Food For Thought – Page 3 – Family, Fun, & Food for thought…

Thus saith the Lord ~ J. Gresham Machen

“A prophet was a man to whom God had directly spoken, who appealed to no external authority, but said simply, ‘Thus saith the Lord.’ There are those who claim to be such prophets today. But few of us, I think, will be inclined to accept their claims. True prophecy, in the supernatural, biblical sense does not exist today; like other miracles it has ceased. Why it has ceased we may not perhaps be able to say; the ways of God with men in the Christian religion constitute not a scheme that we can work out according to principles of our own, but, as Chesterton says, for us at least, a story, a romance, full of strange, unexpected things. Perhaps, indeed, we may see a little way at this point into the purposes of God, we may perhaps understand a little of the reason why prophecy has ceased. There is a wonderful completeness in the revelation that the Bible contains. We have in the Bible an account of the great presuppositions that should underlie all our thinking — the righteousness and holiness of God and the sinfulness of man. And then we have an account of the way in which God saved man once for all by the redeeming work of Christ. That redeeming work was not partial but complete. It needs to be applied, indeed, by the Holy Spirit; but the redemption that is to be applied was accomplished once for all by Christ. It is hard to see, therefore, what need there is of supernatural revelation until that great day when the Lord shall come again to usher in His kingdom in final power.

But although no fresh supernatural revelation is given in the present age, it would be a great mistake to disparage the dispensation under which we are living. That dispensation is the dispensation of the Holy Spirit: even the absence of new revelations is itself in one sense a mark of glory; it is an indication of the wondrous completeness of God’s initial gift to His church. In Old Testament times there was prophecy, because then God’s redemptive plan was still in the process of unfolding; but we are the heirs of the ages and have the Saviour Himself. Only one great act remains in the drama of redemption — the mighty catastrophic coming of our Lord in glory.

Meanwhile we have the Holy Spirit, and we have the Scripture of the Old and New Testaments that the Holy Spirit uses. Much mischief has been wrought in the church by false notions of ‘the witness of the Spirit’; it has sometimes been supposed that the Holy Spirit makes us independent of the Bible. Just the opposite is the case. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. He does not contradict in one generation what He has said in another. He does not contradict the Scriptures that He himself has given. On the contrary, what He really does is to make the words of Scripture glow with a heavenly light and burn in the hearts of men. Those Scriptures are placed in your hands. You may not say with the prophets of old: ‘God has spoken directly and independently to me; I appeal to no external authority; when I speak it is “Thus saith the Lord.”’ But you can do something else. You can mount your pulpit stairs; open reverently the Bible on the desk; pray to the gracious Spirit to make plain the words that He has spoken; and so unfold to needy people the Word of God.

Do you think that that is a low function? Do you think that it involves a slavish kind of dependence on a book? Do you think that it means that advance and freedom are to be checked? The history of the church should be the answer. Again and again history has shown that the Bible, when accepted in the very highest sense as the Word of God, does not stifle life but gives life birth; does not enslave men, but sets them free. Those who talk about emancipating themselves from the slavish doctrine of what they call ‘verbal’ inspiration are not really emancipating themselves from a tyranny, but they are tearing up the charter upon which all human liberty depends.

And so, after all, you can say in a high, true sense, as you draw upon the rich store of revelation in the Bible: ‘Thus saith the Lord.’ If you accept the Bible as the Word of God you will have one qualification of a preacher. Whatever be the limitations of your gifts, you will at least have a message. You will be, in one respect at least, unlike most persons who love to talk in public at the present time; you will have one qualification of a speaker— you will at least have something to say.”

Necessary Offense

I recently saw a shocking video of a church group in Missouri being arrested and carted off to jail. To be honest I don’t know the church, the pastor, or any of the details or the circumstances (and context is always key). I did watch the video with interest and at first shock, sorrow, and a little anger. How can this be? How could it be against the law, in America, to stand on the street and plead with people to trust in Jesus Christ? Have we really reached a point in America in which our most basic freedoms are being totally stripped away?

As I have thought about that video and considered the implications of it, a few other “church” groups came to mind. One is from my home town. They are a small group of sincere folks who love the Lord and aggressively believe in the sanctity of human life. While I whole-heartily agree that every child conceived is precious and a gift from God, I fear that the methods these folks use (shock tactics and billboards) create unnecessary offenses.

I know of another church group who has traveled to Salt Lake City in order to share the Gospel with Mormons. This is a wonderful objective! In fact, we have dear friends who choose to live in that region for the purpose of sharing the Gospel and planting Bible churches. The group that traveled to Utah for a couple weeks of “soul-winning” spent themselves standing on street corners shouting, accusing, mocking, and ultimately being an unnecessary offense.

The third group that comes to mind is the church group that protests at military funerals. (I don’t want to give them inadvertent attention so I won’t name them.) Personally, I struggle to find any redeeming qualities or motives in this. It is just offensive. Which appears to be their primary objective.

I understand that the Gospel is naturally offensive. Whenever you talk to people about their sin and the exclusive “one way” to God through Christ, it is offensive to people. The Gospel is the “stumbling block” and Jesus Christ himself is the “rock of offense.” This is the necessary offense. We must never soften the message of the cross in order to appeal to the sensitivities of men. (See John 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Peter 2:8)

It is necessary that we offend people. We must inform lost people that they are “condemned already” (Jn 3:18) or they will never understand (by faith) what it means that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Jn 3:16).

If we really want to reach people with the good news of the offensive Gospel, then we must learn to avoid all unnecessary offenses. I suggest we try something radical: Be nice.

(This article was originally published: HERE)

A Poem for Difficult Days

Lord, Just today I read
That Paul and Silas were
Stripped and beaten
With wooden whips.
“Again and again the rods
Slashed across their bared backs”
But in their desolate dungeon
Their feet clamped in stocks
They prayed.
They sang.
They praised.
In this musty midnight of my life
Imprisoned in the dungeon of confusion
Bound by chains of anguish
Help me, please help me
To pray
To sing
To praise
Until the foundation shakes
Until the gates fling open
Until the chains fall off
Until I am free
To share the Good News
With other chain-bound prisoners.

—Ruth Harms Calkin,
Tell Me Again, Lord, I Forget

For the time has come indeed…

“Ten Indictments Against the American Church,” by Paul Washer, is a long sermon that was preached on October 22, 2008 at a Conference in Atlanta, GA. It is a message that preachers and churches today desperately need to hear. . . again and again.

The Ten Indictments:

1. A practical denial of the sufficiency of Scripture.

2. An ignorance of God.

4. An ignorance of the gospel of Jesus Christ.3. A failure to address man’s malady.

5. An ignorance of the doctrine of regeneration.

6. An unbiblical gospel invitation.

7. Ignorance regarding the nature of the Church.

8. A lack of loving and compassionate Church discipline.

9. A silence on separation.

10. Lack of children being taught in the home.

May God stir His people with His Word, by His Spirit, because of His Son, for the glory of His name . . .

For the time [is come] that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if [it] first [begin] at us, what shall the end [be] of them that obey not the gospel of God? 1 Peter 4:17

You can download the free ebook here:

Great Questions for Christian Teens

How would you describe yourself?

1. Are you on fire for God?

2. Are you for the first time realizing that you may not be a Christian?

3. Are you beginning to take your personal relationship with God more seriously?

4. Does your life resemble the values of the world more than the Word?

5. Do you love holiness and hate sin?

6. Do you strive to fight the sin of your heart and not simply address your sinful behaviors?

7. Do you like attending church?

8. Do you appreciate and obey your parents?

9. Do you enjoy reading and studying the Bible?

10. Are you prepared for the new freedoms in your life now that you’re getting older?

11. Do you have strong personal convictions?

12. Are you getting ready to head off to college and move away from your family for the first time in your life?

13. Are you experiencing significant anxiety as you think of the future?

~ Taken from “Growing Up Christian” by Karl Graustein

The Race

Part 1:
“Quit! Give up! You’re beaten!”
They shout out and plead.
“There’s just too much against you now,
This time you can’t succeed!”

And as I start to hang my head
In front of failure’s face,
My downward fall is broken by
The memory of a race.

And hope refills my weakened will
As I recall that scene;
For just the thought of that short race
Rejuvenates by being.

Part 2:
A children’s race – young boys, young men
How I remember well.
Excitement, sure, but also fear;
It wasn’t’ hard to tell.

They all lined up so full of hope;
Each thought to win the race,
Or tie for first, or if not that,
At least take second place.

And fathers watched from off the side,
Each cheering for his son,
And each boy hoped to show his dad
That he would be the one.

The whistle blew and off they went,
Young hearts and hopes afire!
To win, to be the hero there,
Was each young boy’s desire.

And one boy in particular
Whose dad was in the crowd,
Was running near the lead and thought
“My dad will be so proud!”

But as he sped down the field
Across a shallow dip,
The little boy who thought to win,
Lost his step and slipped.

Trying hard to catch himself
His hands flew out to brace,
And mid the laughter of the crowd,
He fell flat on is face.

But as he fell, his dad stoop up
And showed his anxious face,
Which to the boy so clearly said,
“Get up and win the race!”

He quickly rose, no damage done,
Behind a bit, that’s all –
And ran with all his mind and might
To make up for his fall.

So anxious to restore himself
To catch up and to win,
His mind went faster than he legs;
He slipped and fell again!

He wished that he had quit before
With only one disgrace.
“I’m hopeless as a runner now;
I shouldn’t try to race.”

But in the laughing crowd he searched
And found his father’s face,
That steady look which said again,
“Get up and win the race!”

So he jumped up to try again,
Ten yards behind the last –
“If I’m to gain those yards,” he thought,
“I’ve got to move real fast.”

Exerting everything he had
He gained eight or ten,
But trying so hard to catch the lead,
He slipped and fell again!

Defeat! He lay there silently
A tear dropped from his eye
“There’s no sense running anymore;
Three strikes, I’m out, why try?”

The will to try had disappeared
All hope had fled away;
So far behind, so error prone,
A loser all the way.

“I’ve lost; so what’s the use,” he thought.
“I’ll live with my disgrace.”
But then he thought about his dad
Whom soon he’d have to face.

“Get up!” an echo sounded low.
“Get up and take your place.
You were not meant for failure here.
Get up and win the race!”

With borrowed will, “Get up,” it said,
“You haven’t lost at all.
For winning is not more than this –
To rise each time you fall.”

So up he rose to win once more,
And with new commit,
He resolved that win or lose,
At least he wouldn’t quit.

So far behind the others now
The most he’d ever been
Still he gave it all he had
And ran as though to win.

Three times he’d fallen stumbling,
Three times he’d rose again,
Too far behind to hope to win
He still ran to the end.

They cheered the winning runner
As he crossed first place,
Head high, proud and happy,
No falling, no disgrace.

But when the fallen youngster
Crossed the line, last place,
The crowd gave him the greater cheer
For finishing the race.

And even though he came in last
With head bowed low, un-proud,
You would have thought he won the race
Just listening to the crowd.

And to his dad he sadly said,
“I didn’t do so well.”
“To me you won,” his father said.
“You rose each time you fell!”

(Not sure who wrote this poem. It has been attributed to different people. For the sake of this post we’ll just say, “Author Uncertain.” – For our son Jordan, in his second year of Jr. High Cross-country!)

Got Issues?

It just so happens that I was standing in the perfect position to overhear myself talking the other day. What I heard was shocking! I still can’t believe it. It sounded just like, gulp, whining! Whining? Me? Whining? Yes. What’s worse I was whining about something from a situation so long ago, I’m certain few if any of the people involved would even remember it. Incredibly I discovered myself indulging in our modern self-justifying rabble of: “You must excuse my current sour attitude. My personal issues provide me with a much needed pass on responsibility.”

Is this not the attitude that so many people have today? We find it easy to complain, easy to express self-pity, easy to self-justify. So many people today see their life as full of loss, hurt, or betrayal that they honestly believe they have the right to whine. Like some kind of spiritual entitlement that says, “You don’t get to hold me accountable because someone hurt me.” It’s amazing how many people are held prisoner by the memory of those who may (or may not) have sinned against them. What’s more incredible are how many people who sincerely believe that their issue(s) free them from fulfilling basic personal duties.

It should be no surprise that the antidote for our narcissistic sour-grapes is not personal therapy. What is needed most is sound Theology. Seriously, what makes more sense to you, focusing time and attention on you and your own “issues”? Or concentrating on something, Someone, who is Himself far greater than you? I would like to take this opportunity to share with you the single most theologically sound reasoning that I can offer. Whether you have experienced mom-issues, dad-issues, sibling issues, financial issues, abuse issues, neglect issues, whatever your issues, past or even present. The single most theologically sound response I can muster is this: So what? Get in line.

My lovely wife and I have seven wonderful little children. We would not trade any of them for anything in the world. I’ve seen firsthand that each one of our children, adorable as they are, was born just like every other human being on the planet. They are selfish, mean, depraved little sinners. My point is this: people do dumb things because people are sinners. It’s in their very nature to do dumb. Whenever we do dumb things, others are affected and others feel the impact of our sin. In other words, you and I can cause others to have personal “issues” as well. (If you are uncertain at this point, just ask your wife or your kids.)

What we need most is a good healthy dose of humility. You are a sinner. I am a sinner. Was it not for the grace of God we would be utterly consumed with our own selfish desires and eagerly satisfying our fleshly lusts. And every time we do that, other people feel the devastating effects. Remember Achan?

Let’s be brutally honest here, it is time for Christian people to realize that there is no place for a victim mentality in the church. Our circumstances, however hard they may be, do not compare to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and the wrath He bore there. The cross of Christ forever stands at the center of all things crying out: “We are all guilty.” “We are all bad people.” “Get over yourself.” “You can do nothing to improve you or others.” But “God, in Christ, can!”

Remember friends, it is the preaching of the cross that is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18). When your emotions need to be reminded of what you know is true – preach the Gospel to your own heart! Don’t allow your heart to feed the Me-Monster. Don’t listen to the wisdom of the world (which is foolishness). Unleash the power of God in your own life. Like David remind your emotions of what you know is true (Psalm 27). Get over yourself and confess with Paul, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, (or issue, or church member, or whatever) shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39 italics added).

(Originally published in a recent edition of IFCA NEWS)

Pastor: Man of God

A dear friend of mine and a man I considered a personal tutor, missionary Bob Cooper (now with the Lord), shared the following quote with me several years ago.

Fling him into his office. Tear the “Office” sign from the door and nail on the sign, “Study.” Take him off the mailing list. Lock him up with his books and his typewriter and his Bible. Slam him down on his knees before texts and broken hearts and the flock of lives of a superficial flock and a holy God.

Force him to be the one man in our surfeited communities who knows about God. Throw him into the ring to box with God until he learns how short his arms are. Engage him to wrestle with God all the night through. And let him come out only when he’s bruised and beaten into being a blessing.

Shut his mouth forever spouting remarks, and stop his tongue forever tripping lightly, over every nonessential. Require him to have something to say before he dares break the silence. Bend his knees in the lonesome valley.

Burn his eyes with weary study. Wreck his emotional poise with worry for God. And make him exchange his pious stance for a humble walk with God and man. Make him spend and be spent for the glory of God. Rip out his telephone. Burn up his ecclesiastical success sheets.

Put water in his gas tank. Give him a Bible and tie him to the pulpit. And make him preach the Word of the living God!

Test him. Quiz him. Examine him. Humiliate him for his ignorance of things divine. Shame him for his good comprehension of finances, batting averages, and political in-fighting. Laugh at his frustrated effort to play psychiatrist. Form a choir and raise a chant and haunt him with it night and day -“Sir, we would see Jesus.”

When at long last he dares assay the pulpit, ask him if he has a word from God. If he does not, then dismiss him. Tell him you can read the morning paper and digest the television commentaries, and think through the day’s superficial problems, and manage the community’s weary drives, and bless the sordid baked potatoes and green beans, ad infinitum, better than he can.

Command him not to come back until he’s read and reread, written and rewritten, until he can stand up, worn and forlorn, and say, “Thus saith the Lord.”

Break him across the board of his ill-gotten popularity. Smack him hard with his own prestige. Corner him with questions about God. Cover him with demands for celestial wisdom. And give him no escape until he’s back against the wall of the Word.

And sit down before him and listen to the only word he has left-God’s Word. Let him be totally ignorant of the down-street gossip, but give him a chapter and order him to walk around it, camp on it, sup with it, and come at last to speak it backward and forward, until all he says about it rings with the truth of eternity.

And when he’s burned out by the flaming Word, when he’s consumed at last by the fiery grace blazing through him, and when he’s privileged to translate the truth of God to man, finally transferred from earth to heaven, then bear him away gently and blow a muted trumpet and lay him down softly. Place a two-edged sword in his coffin, and raise the tomb triumphant. For he was a brave soldier of the Word… and ere he died, he had become a man of God.”

(Author Unknown)

If those who hear me preach are more impressed with me than they are with Christ – I have failed.

Whether preaching, praying, singing, parenting, or fulfilling my role as a husband – God is the audience. So the only question that matters is: Is He pleased? If I do any of, or all of, those things for anyone else or anything less – then I am wasting my time and squandering the vapor that is my life.

Clegguart Mitchell

Stick with your work

Stick with your work.
Do not flinch because the lion roars.
Do not stop to stone the devil’s dogs.
Do not fool away your time chasing the devil’s rabbits.

Do your work.

Let liars lie.
Let sectarians quarrel.
Let critics malign.
Let enemies accuse.
Let the devil do his worst.

See to it nothing hinders you from fulfilling with joy the work God has given you.

He has not commanded you to be admired or esteemed.
He has never bidden you defend your character.
He has not set you at work to contradict falsehood (about yourself) which Satan’s or God’s servants may start to peddle, or to track down every rumor that threatens your reputation.

If you do these things, you will do nothing else.
You will be at work for yourself and not for the Lord.

Keep at your work.
Let your aim be as steady as a star.

You may be assaulted, wronged, insulted,
slandered, wounded and rejected,
misunderstood, or assigned impure motives.
You may be abused by foes, forsaken by friends,
and despised and rejected of men.

But see to it with steadfast determination,
with unfaltering zeal,
that you pursue the great purpose of your life and object of your being
until at last you can say:
“I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do.”

Anonymous

Elevate Your Christmas Focus

Let the chaos begin. Do you remember the good-ole-days when we used to spend Thanksgiving Day together with our family? Everyone would gather at grandma’s house, we would share in a turkey feast, watch a little football, take a nap, and then completely lose our minds. The sun would go down and normal people would be transformed into shopping monsters to be unleashed at midnight.

For the record, I only did that once. I will never do that again. The so called “black Friday” shopping part that is. As for turkey and football – who am I to mess with tradition?!

The times have changed though. The shopping monsters couldn’t wait until midnight this year. They were loosed, restrained, re-loosed, and re-restrained on Thursday and then re-re-loosed at midnight for Friday’s blackness. Honestly, just thinking about it is making me tired and dizzy.

I want to make a radical suggestion. Take a few moments and stop the Christmas chaos in your life. Breathe. Now elevate your focus and yield your attention in worship and adoration as you consider this:

“He (Jesus Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Colossians 1:15-20)

“Though he (Jesus Christ) was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:6-11).

“What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us” (Romans 8:31-34).

Merry Christmas!