Deutero Q

I have been preparing a men's Bible study from Luke 5 and was drawn to verse one: "One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God...."

Note that Jesus did not speak from a formal house of God. Although He did speak in synagogues, Jesus was prepared to speak the Word of God anywhere--even from a boat! As followers of the Master, we must be prepared to speak the Word of God indoors and outdoors, in the church house and in grocery stores!

Jesus was prepared to speak anywhere and everywhere, as the Spirit led Him. How about us?

See you Next Week!

One of the troubling realities confronting Christians in our time is the prevalence of self-centered consumer Christianity. We choose churches, for example, in much the same way we choose television programs and fast food restaurants.

When things do not go according to our liking at one church, we uproot and seek another church more in line with our personal preferences, rather than work through significant life issues with the people God has placed in our lives.

In an excellent article in Christianity Today ("Suburban Spirituality," July 2003), David Goetz points out: "What I perceive to be my needs ... may not correspond to my true spiritual needs.... Thinking that I know my true spiritual needs is arrogant and narcissistic. Staying put as a life practice allows God's grace to work on the unsanded surfaces of my inner life."

In similar fashion, a Methodist pastor writes: "Often God calls us to do things that are very far from what we would choose to do for ourselves. As a pastor, I have been very impressed with those people in the parishes I have served who informed me that they were not in the church because they liked it, but because God called them to be there. Given their choice they would have gone somewhere much more in line with their particular taste in music or worship style or even pastoral leadership. Instead, they prized faithfulness to God's call above bowing to the despotism of their 'felt needs.' And, as a result, they were supernaturally blessed and fulfilled beyond what following their own desires could ever achieve" (Benjamin S. Sharpe, Jr., "Overcoming Consumer Christianity," Orthovox: An Online Journal of Classic Ecumenical Christianity, June 2003, 8).

In an era when consumer Christianity rules the day and church hopping is commonplace, we do well to recover the Trinity as our model for church life. Loving fellowship and commitment characterize the Persons of the Godhead--Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

I am convinced that church hopping will diminish when loving fellowship and genuine commitment characterize the people of God.

I had a fascinating exchange this afternoon with two witnesses of Jehovah. During our dialogue on the doorstep, I tried to avoid the rapid-fire exchange of "prooftexts." Rather, my aim was to show that the JW's version of the Bible (The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures) is inaccurate and dishonest.

For instance, the correct rendering of Jesus' words in John 8:58 is: "...before Abraham was, I am." All major versions of the Bible translate it that way. The NWT, however, reads: "...Before Abraham came into existence, I have been." That rendering is simply dishonest; it cannot in any way be substantiated by the Greek text.

In John 8, Jesus refers to His preexistence and deity, a belief to which JWs are adamantly opposed. Rather than adjust their theology to the Bible, the JWs have simply changed the biblical text (from "I am," with its clear connection to God's self-revelation to Moses as "I am" [Exodus 3:14]) to line up with their faulty views of the Lord! This is done many times in the NWT (for example, in Colossians 1:15 and 2:9) and is terribly dishonest.

In any event, I tried to demonstrate that the NWT is a faulty Bible translation. The two ladies on my doorstep came at me with lots of verses and seemed unwilling to listen to my point of view. It was clear to me that their minds were veiled and unable to behold the Christ of Scripture. We must ask the Lord to remove the veil so that they--and so many like them--can behold the true Christ, the One in whom the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form (Colossians 2:9).

What I learned from the exchange today is that Christians are to speak biblical truth in love while trusting in the Holy Spirit to bring conviction and change.

Finally, of this I am certain: if someone is wrong about the Person of Christ, who is the heart of the Bible and the very center of the Christian faith, then everything they say about Scripture will be offbase. (I think here of the JWs view of salvation, which they understand to be a combination of faith and works--another error!)

I have just finished reading a little book by James White titled Pulpit Crimes: The Criminal Mishandling of God's Word. This book is a clarion call to take seriously the God-breathed, authoritative nature of the Bible.

In chapters with arresting names such as "Cowardice Under Fire," "Felonious Eisegesis" and "Identity Theft," White emphasizes the importance of preaching the unadulterated Word of God rather than unbiblical presuppositions and opinions.

This book is unsettling and challenging, especially if you affirm the health and wealth gospel, women in ministry and seeker-sensitivity. White is right on target with his observation that one of the chief signs of the decay of modern evangelicalism in Western culture is the unscriptural blather emanating from many pulpits.

Pulpit Crimes can be ordered from Solid Ground Christian Books in Birmingham, Alabama. The phone number is 205-443-0311. This is a must-read for clergy and laity--whether liberal, conservative, or moderate.

Do everything without complaining or arguing? Yikes! Lately I have been besieged on all ministry fronts by chronic complainers. And yet even as I write that, I recognize my own tendency to complain and find fault. The old, sinful nature wants to constantly assert itself. How important its is for Christians to be reminded that we are indwelt by the Spirit of God and that we really can gain victory over chronic complaining!

Good and bad presidents, governors, senators, representatives, etc., will rise and fall. Not one of them is worthy of our ultimate allegiance!

As Christ the King Sunday draws closer, let us remember that Jesus is the ruler of all. The Lord is on His throne and He is not going anywhere; He rules and reigns, even as earthly leaders rise and fall. (Scripture teaches that the Lord determines who becomes an earthly leader--Daniel 2:21; Matthew 28:18; Romans 13:1-7.)

The psalmist spoke of trusting in God while others trusted in chariots and horses. Many people today are trusting in Republicans and Democrats rather than in the Ruler of all earthly rulers.

In this time of misplaced loyalty and political vexation, let us pledge our primary allegiance to King Jesus.

Crown him with many crowns, the Lamb upon His throne; Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns all music but its own: Awake my soul and sing of Him who died for thee, And hail Him as thy matchless King through all eternity.

The curious title "Divine Nobodies" comes from a recently published book I saw advertised in Christianity Today. The more I have been thinking about this apparent oxymoron, the more facinating I find it. It brings to mind Scripture verses such as Acts 4:13, where John and Peter are described as "unschooled, ordinary men," and 1 Corinthians 1:27, which speaks of God choosing the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.

Most of us are not important celebrity-somebodies from the world's point of view. But of this we can be sure: in Jesus Christ we are extraordinarily special. We are objects of God's lavish love, adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:3-7).

Sounds rather like divine "somebodies" to me!

People often talk about being strong when facing difficult times in life. However, the Christian is exhorted to not merely "be strong," but to "be strong in the Lord." As for me, my own strength is insufficient to get me through the tough times of life. I have decided to trade my weakness for His strength. Strength "in the Lord"--those three words are the emphasis. I want to dwell on that thought for a while ... and live in to it.

"But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night."

I was drawn to the word "delight" as I read this psalm today. I confess that it can be so easy to race through daily Bible reading. Oh, to get to that place of consistently delighting in God's Word, treasuring it more than a favorite magazine or novel ... and in the process encountering the One who is the very heart of the Bible, the living Christ.