All Things New

I've wondered all week what I would post for New Year's. I am not into resolutions. I could write about friends and the value of them (since I got to renew that yesterday). But when Tullian Tchividjian, Pastor, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, (grandson of Billy Graham) posted this, I knew this was it. Thank God there is more than resolutions to offer and the offer is good 365 days a year, not just New Year's.

Beginning tonight people all over the world will intensify their celebration of newness. Below is a brief meditation from my book Do I Know God? on why Christians are the ones who should be celebrating newness louder than anybody.

When God saves us, we gain a new beginning, a new family, a new purpose, and a new power.

A New Beginning (Justification)
One of the reasons people celebrate the beginning of a new year is because it promises a clean slate. That’s why we make New Year’s resolutions, out of our desire to start over. Sadly, though, most of the resolutions we make on January 1st are long abandoned by the middle of February.

But God promises that “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). That is, when we trust in Christ, God gives us a permanent fresh start, an everlasting new beginning, regardless of what we’ve done or who we’ve been. Our deep desire to “begin again” is satisfied once and for all because of what Christ has done for us on the cross.

A New Family (Adoption)
“You are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household,” Paul said. In other words, when God adopts us, we not only gain a Father, we gain a whole new family: the Church. The biblical word for “church” does not mean a building or institution, it means “the called out ones.” It refers to those whom God calls out of slavery and into sonship. The Church, in other words, is people: people adopted by God, people who know God as their heavenly Father. When God saves sinners he saves them into a whole new community — the “family of God.” As Frank Colquhoun wrote in his book Total Christianity, “When Christ saves a man he not only saves him from his sin, he saves him from his solitude.” He brings us into meaningful fellowship with others who will help us along the way in our relationship with God.

A New Purpose (Mission)
Paul wrote, “Whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, we do it all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). When God saves us, we no longer have to settle for manufacturing our own fleeting legacies. He gives us a new reason to live—to glorify him. We live, in other words, for something huge and significant — to display God, to spread his fame, and to build his everlasting Kingdom. We become part of an infinitely larger story than our own personal history. We no longer have to work for our own puny causes, but for God’s universal cause. Paul said, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).

In his book Orthodoxy, G. K. Chesteron wrote, “How much larger your life would be if your self could become smaller in it.” Nothing makes you more aware of your smallness and life’s potential bigness than being in relationship with the Living God. God promises a big purposeful life to everyone who knows him.

A New Power (Sanctification)
When God enters into an everlasting relationship with us, he not only promises to pardon us for the past, he promises us a new power for the present. Just before Jesus ascended back into heaven after his resurrection, he told his disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8).

Most of us know we’re imperfect and need to change. Most of us want to live better lives. But no matter how hard we try, we can’t. We don’t have the power to change.

But God does. In The Contemporary Christian, John Stott writes, “Is God really able to change human nature … to make cruel people kind, selfish people unselfish, immoral people self-controlled, and sour people sweet? Is he able to take people who are dead to spiritual reality, and make them alive in Christ? Yes, he really is!” And when God’s Holy Spirit enters us, we receive all the power we need to become the people God always intended for us to be. The Bible makes it clear that in Christ, God provides us with everything we need for godliness.

C. S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity: “God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man. It is not like teaching a horse to jump better and better but like turning a horse into a winged creature.”

New, unimaginable changes await all God’s children because God promises a new, unimaginable power.

Because God has given us a new beginning, a new family, a new purpose, and a new power, let us celebrate true newness tonight. And in doing so we will point a watching world to the only One who can “make all things new.”

Happy New Year!

More from Charles' Stanley's book on the Spirit-filled life

Over the last two weeks, I have read Charles Stanley's The Wonderful Spirit-Filled Life. Over these last days of 2009, I am using this blog to share some of the actual comments from the book.

Every sinful act is committed twice: once in our heads and once in our behavior. To win the behaviour battle, we must first win the battle that takes place in our minds.

For years I was defeated in this area. Part of the reason was that I focused almost exclusively on not doing wrong things. My idea of walking in the Spirit was allowing the Holy Spirit to direct my actions. I was preoccupied with good behaviour. But no matter how committed I was, at best I was inconsistent.

Not too long after my life-changing encounter with the Holy Spirit, I saw what my problem was. I wasn't taking part in the battle before the battle. Walking in the Spirit requires a mind-set, a preoccupation with truth. The battle begins not with the temptation to do something but with the temptation to dwell on anything that conflicts with what is true. This is the battle before the battle. (pages 91-92)

Like so many people, I wasn't always careful with what I allowed myself to think about. When I got serious about setting my mind on the things of the Spirit, I realized just how polluted my mind really was. (page 92)

There is no legitimate place in the mind of the believer for ideas, notions, dreams, or fantasies that have as part of all their content things that are contrary to the truth of God. (page 93)

"We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every though captive to the obedience of Christ." II Corinthians 10:5

Nothing I have done has produced more immediate change in my life than destroying speculations and taking every thought captive. I was amazed. The difference was instantly recognizable. Victory became a way of life rather than the exception. (page 95)

Paul calls the Word of God the sword of the Spirit. Viewing the Bible as a sword was not a new concept. But I realized that the Word of God is the weapon the Holy Spirit uses to expose and destroy the lies confronting the children of God. (page 95)

Let me take some pressure off by reminding you that we are not responsible for the thoughts that pop into our heads. We have no control over what drifts through our minds. Evil thoughts are not sin. Sin is grabbing hold of those thoughts and dwelling on them (Matthew 5:28). (page 96)

The Holy Spirit is committed and equipped to guide you. He will guide you according to truth. But He will not override your will and force you to follow. You have a part to play. And it begins with your mind. (page 96)

To walk by the Spirit is to live with moment-by-moment dependency on and sensitivity to the initial promptings of the Holy Spirit. It is a life-style. It is my hope that you will begin today. (page 97)

More from Charles' Stanley's book on the Spirit-filled life

Over the last two weeks, I have read Charles Stanley's The Wonderful Spirit-Filled Life. Over these last days of 2009, I am using this blog to share some of the actual comments from the book.

The Change Agent: The life of Christ in you has the potential to produce all kinds of change in your life. "Wait," you say, "I've tried to change, and I can't." Exactly! You are not equipped to produce change-only bear it. Your new life produces change. You are simply the vehicle through which it is expressed, as a branch is the vehicle through which the fruit-producing life of the vine is expressed. You are a bearer, not a producer. Branches are totally dependent on the vine for fruit. And we are totally dependent on the Holy Spirit. (page 66)

Radical change is possible. We have everything we need to become all He wants us to become. By abiding in Him and Him in us, we have the potential to produce a consistent harvest of fruit, the kind that makes the most skeptical unbeliever sit up and take notice. (page 66)

Our part is simply to plug into the new life that indwells us. We are to draw upon His life in us. How? By faith. (page 66)

When it comes to righteousness - whether for salvation or for living- we must allow God to do the work. Producing righteousness falls outside our job description. The Spirit-filled life is a life of faith. It started by faith, and it runs on faith. It is faith from start to finish. (page 76)

Through the years, I have met dozen of believers who have a testimony similar to mine. Like me, they entered into the Spirit-filled life years after their salvation. They, too, went through a period of struggle and defeat, and eventually led them to the point of desperation. In their own way, each of them threw up the white flag of surrender. Their yieldedness and brokenness cleared the way for the Holy Spirit to take control. (page 67)

There is a tendency on the part of some to label this experience. Some call it the second blessing. Others call it the baptism of the Holy Spirit or the second baptism of the Holy Spirit. I have heard it called other things as well. Since the Bible doesn't label or title this experience, we shouldn't, either. Doing so only confuses things. (page 67)

My comment: I agree over the confusion of a label. That's why I say, "Not all works of the Holy Spirit in a person's life are of equal value." Thank God for the deepening work of the Spirit.

John Piper preaching on Suffering

This past Sunday we heard from Bro. Joe Eady who has been suffering greatly for the past three-and-half years. Bro. Joe was suppose to share Labor Day Weekend but was not feeling up to it. At that time (September), I was finishing a series of messages on Suffering.

Recently, Matt Chandler, Pastor, Village Church, Dallas, TX was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor which was partially removed through surgery in November. He starts chemo today. Below are links to previous videos from Matt and stories from the church that might catch you up to date on the issues.

First report of his seizure Thanksgiving day

Video message from Matt before his surgery

Pathology report

Video message from Matt after his surgery - Dec. 18

The medical plan

The reason for this post is to add to the subject of suffering. This past Sunday, John Piper went to Village Church to preach and help the church through this time. The message is based out of Romans 8:18-25 (the very text we used for suffering as we were preaching through Romans 8). I would highly recommend you listen to his message here.

More from Charles' Stanley's book on the Spirit-filled life

Over the last two weeks, I have read Charles Stanley's The Wonderful Spirit-Filled Life. Over these last days of 2009, I am using this blog to share some of the actual comments from the book.

Dr. Stanley expresses a time in his life when he was dry and searching. Then he says, "Reading through Torrey's book, I ran across a passage that hit me right between the eyes. He described my dilemma perfectly:

So it is clear that every regenerate man has the Holy Spirit. But in many a believer the Holy Spirit dwells away back in some hidden sanctuary of his person, away back of conscious experience. ... In other words, it is one thing to have the Holy Spirit merely dwelling in us but we are conscious of His dwelling, and quite another thing to be filled or baptized, with the Holy Spirit. So we may put it with perfect accuracy in this way: Every regenerate person has the Holy Spirit, but not every regenerate person has what the Bible calls "the gift of the Holy Spirit," or "the baptism with the Holy Spirit," or "the Promise of the Father." (quote from Torrey ends here)

Stanley continues: Whatever you call it, I didn't have it. I had the Holy Spirit. But for some reason He wasn't making much difference. It was as if He was hibernating. (page 34)

Spiritual growth is a process. I must have read twenty books on the subject before I recognized and experienced the filling of the Spirit. ... I don't know where you are in the process, but God does. He is engineering your circumstances with a definite result in mind. Part of His plan is to bring you to the end of yourself, to a point of desperation where you get so sick of yourself and your inability to change that you throw up your hands in surrender. When that happens, you are closer than you have ever been to knowing the joy of the Spirit-filled life. So, relax. There is no rush. God is in control. After all, He wants this for you more than you want if for yourself." (pages 34-35)

More from Charles' Stanley's book on the Spirit-filled life

Over the last two weeks, I have read Charles Stanley's The Wonderful Spirit-Filled Life. Over these last days of 2009, I will use this blog to share some of the actual comments from the book.

"I am troubled on behalf of those who have prayed a salvation prayer in the past but have reached the conclusion that Christianity just doesn't work. I am equally concerned about the believers who have not yet given up, but their lives are characterized by defeat and discontentment. I am concerned about men and women who are simply going through the motions - going to church, reading their Bibles, saying prayers, confessing their sins. (page 5)

I believe there are two primary reasons so many Christians have failed to take advantage of the help afforded by the Helper. First of all, many preachers neither model the Spirit-filled life nor teach on it. What comes from the pulpit week after week is, "Do the best you can, and remember, God understands." How tragic! No wonder so many churches are powerless and dead. (page 10)

On the other hand, men and women who are walking in the Spirit don't waste their time arguing over who is going to chair this committee or what color to paint the children's department. They are too busy exercising their gifts for the common good of the church. Spirit-filled believers are given to prayer. Pastors who are filled with the Spirit don't simply use the pulpit to entertain and comfort their people. They equip and challenge their congregation to do the work of the ministry. (page 10)

The other reason so many believers miss out of the Spirit-filled life concerns their early days as Christians. Generally, when people are born again, an excitement about their newfound life manifests itself by way of a whole lot of activity. (page 10-11)

Well, all of this is fine except for one small detail. The energy source of all their activity is usually their own human strength - which, of course, is being fueled by the genuine joy that accompanies salvation or restoration. The problem is that they usually assume that what they are experiencing will last forever. If no one instructs them on how to walk in the Spirit, they will continue in their own strength - doing the best they can, which for a while is really pretty good. Eventually however, they run out of steam. (page 10)

Posting from Charles Stanley's book

Over the last two weeks, I have read Charles Stanley's The Wonderful Spirit-Filled Life. Over these last days of 2009, I will use this blog to share some of the actual comments from the book.

"Most believers are convinced that it is the pastor's responsibility to bring people into the church as well as into the kingdom of God. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Scripture is clear on this point. Pastors were given by God to a church to equip the people to do the work. Sermons are not God's primary method for reaching people. People are His method for reaching people. What kind of people? Men and women whose lives and life-styles have been deeply affected by the truths of Scripture, people who have discovered the wonderful Spirit-filled life." (page 5)

God's method for reaching this generation, and every generation, is not preachers and sermons. It is Christians whose life-styles are empowered and directed by the Holy Spirit. Somewhere around 85 percent of all Christians came to Christ through a friend or family member. People are the key to reaching people! (page 5)

In light of that, let me give you a statement from The Art of Personal Evangelism by Will McRaney, Jr.: "My contention is that if Christians are not experiencing Jesus in the everyday concerns and problems of life, then we will miss most of the potential transition points to talk about the impact of Christ in our lives. For what is on the heart and mind will also be on the tongue. If we are not experiencing Christ in the ordinary affairs of life, then we do not have Christ in our hearts. As we listen to people talk about their marriages, finances, or disappointments, we need to hear opportunities to talk about how our relationship with Jesus has made a difference in those areas of our lives." (pages 173-74)

George Barna's 2009 Themes

Here is an interesting read by George Barna's revealing his 2009 Themes. Read the article here.

Sermon Notes from Sunday, December 20, 2009

Last Sunday's sermon on Simeon. Sorry, I forgot to post it. Here it is.

What to look for in a good church

Over the past few days, I have re-read Mark Dever's Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. I love this book and it is always a good refresher for me.

He makes this comment on page 52 under "The Role of the Preacher of God's Word."

"If you are looking for a good church, this is the most important thing to consider. I don't care how friendly you think the church members are. I don't care how good you think the music is. Those things can change. But the congregation's commitment to the centrality of the Word coming from the front, from the preacher, the one specially gifted by God and called to that ministry, is the most important thing you can look for in a church.

Preachers are not called to preach what's popular according to the polls. What good is that? People already know all that. What life does that bring? We are called to preach the Word of God to the church of God and to everyone in His creation. This is how God brings life."

Christmas Eve 2009

Christmas Eve 2009. As we think of Christmas - there is only one thing. I was listening to one of the morning talk shows this week and when they were leaving the segment with their secular, Hollywood star guest, they expressed to each other their desire for each to enjoy Christmas and all it means. The "star" quickly and laughingly said, "Yes, family." Family is all that Christmas means to her.

I thank God for my family, but Christmas is MUCH MORE than that. It is the awesome wonder that God became man and dwelt among us. In the debate of life on other planets, the one question that should be asked them if there is "Have you been visited by the Son of God, too?"

Jesus came through a virgin's womb. He became man.

Paul Harvey tells my number one favorite non-Biblical Christmas story. I have used this with his actual voice on a Christmas Eve service as well as telling the story myself (though not as good). Take a few minutes today or tomorrow, and listen again to Paul Harvey telling "The Birds."

And Merry Christmas to all of our friends and family. We love you.

Birds

www.kffb.com

More from Heaven's Throne Gift

I have more one posting this week from Heaven's Throne Gift by James A. Stewart who Duane and Iris Blue recommended to me. Here are more quotes from that book:

Mr. Spurgeon cried fervently to his flock, as he pleaded for a recognition of the Spirit's presence: "Death and condemnation to a church that is not yearning after the Spirit, and crying and groaning until the Spirit has wrought mightily in her midst. He is here; He has never gone back since He descended at Pentecost. He is often grieved and vexed, for He is peculiarly jealous and sensitive, and the one sin never forgiven has to do with His blessed Person; therefore let us be very be very tender towards Him, walk humbly before Him, wait on Him very earnestly, and resolve that there should be nothing knowingly continued which would prevent Him working in our midst.

Brethren, if we do not have the Spirit of God, it were better to shut the churches, to nail up the doors, to put a black cross on them and say: 'God have mercy on us!' If you ministers have not the Spirit of God, you had better not preach, and you people had better stay at home. I think I speak not too strongly when I say that a church in the land without the Spirit of God is rather a curse than a blessing. This is a solemn word; the Holy Spirit - or nothing, and worse than nothing." (pg. 48)

I started last Friday sharing some insights from Heaven's Throne Gift by James A. Stewart who Duane and Iris Blue recommended to me. Here are more quotes from that book:

Just as distinctively and as definitely as the Son of God came as a Person unto Bethlehem, so the Spirit of God came as a definite Person at Pentecost. (pg. 42)

As the Son of God became incarnate by union with a real human body, born of the Virgin, so there is a sense in which the Holy Ghost becomes incarnate by uniting Himself with the human bodies of men and women who believe in Christ. Here is the continuation of the Incarnation: God dwelling in human flesh! (pg. 42)

It is sad that a vast number of evangelicals are living on the other side of Pentecost, as if that great even had never occurred. (pg. 43)

Many of our hymns begin with the word, "Come," beseeching the Spirit to come down from Heaven. Is this scriptural? When one enters into the spirit of the hymn, he can feel the longing of the author for a richer, deeper, fuller experience of the Holy Ghost in his life. The invocation is not for the Spirit to come down from heaven, but that the incarnate Spirit, already inhabiting the Church of God, will "break forth" in a mighty manifestation of Himself. They witnessed revival because they earnestly sought the Spirit. (pg. 44-45)

I believe that a profound change would come over the entire blood-washed Church of Jesus Christ, if each believer would realize that we are now living in the blessed days of the Holy Ghost's personal administration. If every pastor, Bible teacher, and Sunday School teacher would begin now to teach all that was involved in the Spirit's advent this recognition of His Person would revolutionize our lives..." (pg. 47-48)

Where Does the Story of Christmas Begin? by Al Mohler

Here is today's post from Dr. Al Mohler on "Where Does the Story of Christmas Begin?" Read it here. It's a good read.

More from Heaven's Throne Gift

I started on Friday sharing some insights from Heaven's Throne Gift by James A. Stewart who Duane and Iris Blue recommended to me. Here are more quotes from that book:

The office of the Spirit is to communicate Christ to us in His entireness. (pg. 26)

The Spirit is the custodian of all things belonging to Christ;.... (pg. 27)

The Christian life is a supernatural, mystical life. We have never seen Christ with the naked eye, ....He is the altogether lovely One. (pg. 31)

The twin marks of a Spirit-filled believer are a deep appreciation for the Person of our Lord Jesus, and a deep, spiritual, reverential hunger for an insight into the Word of God. Anything less is only a sham. (pg. 31)

That is why the Spirit is to precious to me. That is why I worship Him and commune with Him and appreciate Him in His condescension. (pg. 33)

Who prayed down the Spirit of Pentecost? It was the glorified Son Who prayed down the Spirit. (pg. 33)

Pentecost is just as much a reality as Calvary. (pg. 35)

Let us make it clear that there is a vast difference in our possessing the Spirit of God and the Spirit of God possessing us. (pg. 37)

Thanking God for CrossRoads

I'm just sitting here tonight watching it get dark so early (can't wait til these days are over) with the Christmas lights going it the background. I am "cleaning up" from notes and details of the normal Sunday; but I am thinking.

I am thinking about how grateful I am that God has given me the privilege to pastor CrossRoads Baptist Church. Today, is a great example. It is cold in Alabama. It is the Sunday before Christmas and many have left to be with family out of town; others are having Christmas gatherings today; some are your most regulars are sick and going through chemo - and you just think today might be a "throw away" day.

But it sure wasn't. God showed up. The Spirit of God was so real as was given testimony at the end by one of our precious ladies. Preaching was easy and encouraged greatly by the response of the people. Folks responded to the altar with no singing of a hymn, just obeying the Spirit. The music was good and lifted our hearts to glory.

What a joy to serve with our leadership. Mrs. Shae Walton, our Children's Pastor, is simply the best. Even though we have vacancies at music and students, Mrs. Debra Williamson is leading us well as our interim music minister. She has such a heart for God and letting the Spirit lead.

Then our deacons serve this church so well. I have had the privilege of serving with some of these men now over five years and others less time (due to us ordaining new ones). These men have stood in the fire and against the fire. I have never sensed a personal agenda among them and they are willing to do whatever it takes for the best of the church.

CrossRoads is not a perfect church, no church is. I am not and no one else is. But perfection is never been the standard. It's availability and openness to God allowing His Spirit to lead and work through us.

I am not a lucky man. I am a blessed man.

So, CrossRoads - from your pastor; I love you and thank God for you. May you have some quiet moments with God this Christmas week that will draw you even closer to "His bleeding side" and cause you to love Him more. Merry Christmas dear church family.

Joy to the World

Get ready for worship tomorrow. Eddie Lenz will be leading in the absence of Mrs. Debra and one of the songs he is leading is sung by Chris Tomlin in this video "Joy to the World/Unspeakable Joy." Hear it here. if you don't see it below.

Heaven's Throne Gift

When Duane and Iris Blue were with us last year, they told me about a book Heaven's Throne Gift by James A. Stewart as a book that changed Manley Beasley and them. So I have read it several times and I'm going to share some insights with you in several posts.

It is not for an instance that the disciples are to have the Presence of the Spirit instead of the Son, for to have the Spirit is to have the Son. The Holy Spirit does not supersede the work of Christ in the sense that Christ ceases to work, and the Spirit takes His place, but the work of Christ Himself is continued in the Spirit's work, under new conditions, both outward and inward. (page 18)

All that the Lord Jesus had done for the disciples, the Holy Spirit would continue to do. (pg. 19)

The vital truth in the Upper Room discourse is, that just as the Lord Jesus is able to meet every need of the sinner, so the Holy Spirit is able to meet every need of the believer. (pg. 19-20)

He meets the need of our ignorance. It is not possible for every one of us to go to a Bible school or Seminary, but even so, we may have an anointing from the Spirit that we may know the things of God. As a boy preacher, beginning to evangelize at fourteen years of age,...I was cast upon the Holy Spirit for the knowledge of divine truth. (page 21)

The best way to know the Bible is to read it on our knees under the Spirit's anointing. You can know Hebrew and Greek, and yet not be taught of the Spirit. (pg. 22)

The reason why so many believers' lives are a grief and disappointment to them is that they are seeking to live the Christian life apart from the Spirit. (pg. 24)

Passion for Jesus

Nancy Leigh DeMoss is teaching through the seven churches of Revelation in her daily radio ministry which I keep up with through her manuscripts of the program. This is a part of what she said today. You may read the entire message here. This is on the heels of a conversation I had yesterday with one of our precious ladies in our church who was talking about passion for God and how it is missing in our churches. We see passion in the lives of church members for everything else except God. One of the driving passions of my heart is the manifested presence of Christ in our midst as a believing family of God. Read the following excerpt from DeMoss:

As I reflect back over these months of walking through this passage and these letters to the churches, I think you could summarize the concerns that Jesus has for His churches under three different headings. And I want us today and in the next program to just look at those three primary concerns as we review and overview this series.

The three primary concerns have to do with the church’s passion, the church’s purity and the church’s perseverance—passion, purity and perseverance. Let’s take those one at a time.

First of all passion. Jesus is concerned about the church having left its first loveas He says to the church in Ephesus, “I have this against you that you have abandoned the love you had at first” (2:4).

He says to the church in Sardis, “You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up and strengthen what remains and is about to die” (3:1-2). He’s saying, “You have a form, but there’s no life. There’s no spirit.” He’s concerned about the appearance of things that is not consistent with the reality, a lack of passion.

He says to the church in Laodicea, “You are neither cold nor hot. I would that you were either cold or hot!” But he says, “You are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold” (3:15-16). Lukewarmness, half-heartedness, lack of passion.

You see, love for Jesus and an authentic relationship with Him is the heartbeat, the life blood, the spring of our faith and our service, our perseverance, and our purity.

If we don’t have an authentic relationship with Christ, if we don’t have passion for Him, then we’re going to grow weary in serving Him. We’re going to give up. We’re not going to persevere. We’re not going to have any reason to be pure in an impure world if we don’t have a passion for Christ. That has to be the source.

Your orthodoxy, your doctrine, your tradition, your history, your spiritual roots—none of that will carry you to the finish line, to the day of Christ if you don’t have a passion for Christ. It’s not enough that we have orthodoxy. That’s vital but it’s not enough.

It’s not enough that we have impressive statistics or that our churches have a glowing reputation. Lifeless, loveless churches are a heartache to Christ. He wants us to be hot-hearted, to be whole-hearted. So He deals with the issue of passion.

Why is Pragmatism? Why is it Bad?

The following is an article post by John MacArthur. What he writes about is so true. I thank God for the privilege of serving a church at CrossRoads that wants and expects its Pastor to preach the Word of God and time is not a factor. Oh, it is my calling and love!!

(By John MacArthur)

In a column published some years ago in a popular Christian magazine, a well-known preacher was venting his own loathing for long sermons. January 1 was coming, so he resolved to do better in the coming year. "That means wasting less time listening to long sermons and spending much more time preparing short ones," he wrote. "People, I've discovered, will forgive even poor theology as long as they get out before noon."¹

Unfortunately, that perfectly sums up the predominant attitude behind much of ministry today. Bad doctrine is tolerable; a long sermon most certainly is not. The timing of the benediction is of far more concern to the average churchgoer than the content of the sermon. Sunday dinner and the feeding of our mouths takes precedence over Sunday school and the nourishment of our souls. Long-windedness has become a greater sin than heresy.

The church has imbibed the worldly philosophy of pragmatism, and we're just beginning to taste the bitter results.

What Is Pragmatism?

Pragmatism is the notion that meaning or worth is determined by practical consequences. It is closely akin toutilitarianism, the belief that usefulness is the standard of what is good. To a pragmatist/utilitarian, if a technique or course of action has the desired effect, it is good. If it doesn't seem to work, it must be wrong.

Pragmatism as a philosophy was developed and popularized at the end of the last century by philosopher William James, along with such other noted intellectuals as John Dewey and George Santayana. It was James who gave the new philosophy its name and shape. In 1907, he published a collection of lectures entitledPragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking, and thus defined a whole new approach to truth and life.

Pragmatism has roots in Darwinism and secular humanism. It is inherently relativistic, rejecting the notion of absolute right and wrong, good and evil, truth and error. Pragmatism ultimately defines truth as that which is useful, meaningful, helpful. Ideas that don't seem workable or relevant are rejected as false.

What's wrong with pragmatism?

After all, common sense involves a measure of legitimate pragmatism, doesn't it? If a dripping faucet works fine after you replace the washers, for example, it is reasonable to assume that bad washers were the problem. If the medicine your doctor prescribes produces harmful side effects or has no effect at all, you need to ask if there's a remedy that works. Such simple pragmatic realities are generally self-evident.

But when pragmatism is used to make judgments about right and wrong, or when it becomes a guiding philosophy of life and ministry, it inevitably clashes with Scripture. Spiritual and biblical truth is not determined by testing what "works" and what doesn't. We know from Scripture, for example, that the gospel often does not produce a positive response (1 Cor. 1:22, 23; 2:14). On the other hand, Satanic lies and deception can be quite effective (Matt. 24:23, 24; 2 Cor. 4:3, 4). Majority reaction is no test of validity (cf. Matt. 7:13, 14), and prosperity is no measure of truthfulness (cf. Job 12:6). Pragmatism as a guiding philosophy of ministry is inherently flawed. Pragmatism as a test of truth is nothing short of satanic.

Nevertheless, an overpowering surge of ardent pragmatism is sweeping through evangelicalism. Traditional methodology—most notably preaching—is being discarded or downplayed in favor of newer means, such as drama, dance, comedy, variety, side-show histrionics, pop-psychology, and other entertainment forms. The new methods supposedly are more "effective"—that is, they draw a bigger crowd. And since the chief criterion for gauging the success of a church has become attendance figures, whatever pulls in the most people is accepted without further analysis as good. That is pragmatism.

Perhaps the most visible signs of pragmatism are seen in the convulsive changes that have revolutionized the church worship service in the past two decades. Some of evangelicalism's largest and most influential churches now boast Sunday services that are designed purposely to be more rollicking than reverent.

Even worse, theology now takes a back seat to methodology. One author has written, "Formerly, a doctrinal statement represented the reason for a denomination's existence. Today, methodology is the glue that holds churches together. A statement of ministry defines them and their denominational existence."² Incredibly, many believe this is a positive trend, a major advance for the contemporary church.

Some church leaders evidently think the four priorities of the early church—the apostles' teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer (Acts 2:42)—make a lame agenda for the church in this day and age. Churches are allowing drama, recreation, entertainment, self-help programs, and similar enterprises to eclipse the importance of traditional Sunday worship and fellowship. In fact, everything seems to be in fashion in the church today except biblical preaching. The new pragmatism sees preaching—particularly expository preaching—as pass‚. Plainly declaring the truth of God's Word is regarded as offensive and utterly ineffective. We're now told we can get better results by first amusing people or giving them pop-psychology and thus wooing them into the fold. Once they feel comfortable, they'll be ready to receive biblical truth in small, diluted doses.

Pastors are turning to books on marketing methods in search of new techniques to help churches grow. Many seminaries have shifted their pastoral training emphasis from Bible curriculum and theology to counseling technique and church-growth theory. All these trends reflect the church's growing commitment to pragmatism.

Notes:

* This article is excerpted from Ashamed of the Gospel: When the Church Becomes Like the World (Wheaton: Crossway, 1993).

1. Jamie Buckingham, "Wasted Time," Charisma (Dec. 88), 98.

2. Elmer L. Towns, An Inside Look at 10 of today's Most Innovative Churches (Ventura, CA: Regal, 1990), 249.

New galaxies seen

Members of our fellowship at CrossRoads know that we have been doing "The Truth Project" with our students and adults. In addition, with our students I did some teaching about creation and evolution. We have just viewed in December Louie Giglio's DVD on the stars.

In light of that, last week (Wednesday) in the Birmingham News, there was this article from Washington:

The refurbished Hubble Space Telescope has spotted the oldest galaxies yet, scientists reported Tuesday. A wide field camera installed on Hubble this summer captured several thousand never-before-seen galaxies, which were formed 600 million years after the Big Bang."

Well, as with most media, I hope that some of the news is correct and accurate. How awesome that they have discovered these galaxies. But then to attribute it to "The Big Bang" and 600 millions ago. Well, there are some of us that are discerning enough not to believe that part of the story.

Psalm 8:1,3 "O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, You who set Your glory above the heavens! When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained."

Is Sunday the Ending or the Beginning

This blog was written by Thabiti Anyabwile. Sunday being the first day of the week means more than this, but it sure incorporates this aspect. It is good Here is the blog posting:

A couple weeks back, my deacon of finance commented over lunch: "How different do you think things would be if Christians treated Sunday as the first day of the week rather than the last?"

it was a great question. The question puts its finger on our entire approach to the Lord's Day. Far too often we approach Sunday as the day we rest from the week gone by rather than the day of first fruits, of beginning with the Lord and shaping our hearts and souls for the week ahead. When that happens, God gets the leftovers and the world gets the best part of us.

On Sunday nights, most of us will begin routines designed to help us get off to a good start for the week. We'll select the children's clothes for school. We'll perhaps pack lunches. Spouses will coordinate schedules, being sure important meetings and outings are highlighted. Thoughts will turn to work: tasks to get done, meetings to attend, and so on. In short, we prepare for the week now that Sunday is over.

How would it affect our souls and our weeks to simply back the preparation up one day so that Sunday is the first day of the week and the Saturday the night of our preparation for all that's ahead? What if we invested considerable energy planning to get off to a good start with the Lord and His people, and planning to give the leftovers to lesser lords? How would we benefit if we lived for the Lord's Day rather than living for the weekend? I think the effect would be noticeable and almost immediate.

A must read on abortion from Al Mohler

When Dr. Al Mohler, President of Southern Seminary, wrote this, it got my attention:

"By any measure, Jennifer Senior has written one of the most honest, revealing, insightful, and important articles on abortion to appear in recent history."

The article in reference is Jennifer Senior’s New York Magazine article, The Abortion Distortion — Just How Pro-choice is America, Really? (Nov 29, 2009).

You can read Mohler's response and summary here

God Send Revival

I had the privilege of meeting and hearing Lewis Drummond on several occasions. In fact, he even invited me one time to study under him and I only wished it could have been in God's will to have done so.

I am reading the Journal of Evangelism and Missions from Mid-America Seminary from the Spring, 2009 edition on Revival and Spiritual Awakening. One of the main reasons I was reading the journal was its chapter on Manuel Bailey. But in another article, I came across these two quotes from Drummond's book The Awakening That Must Come. (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1978).

"Few of us today have ever seen a widespread spiritual awakening. Blessings here and there, yes; but, oh, for an awakening that would bring the masses to the cross and revolutionize our churches and nation. This is the cry of many. Its echoes are the cry of my heart."

"After years of renewal promotion most church members...still want a building that looks like a church, services of the kind they are accustomed to, a clergyman dressed in the way they approve, and to be left alone. Somehow, renewal has simply missed the bulk of God’s people. And that is the prime problem!"

Here is another quote: Vance Havner, a well- known revivalist of the 20th century, defined revival as, “A work of God’s Spirit among his own people . . . what we call revival is simply New Testament Christianity, the saints getting back to normal”

May we be sincere in the light of God's Word

My preacher friend, Russ Fox, shared this from Philippians 1:8. As I read it, I'm reminded that I think the furniture in our house is clean until the sun comes shining through the window exposing the dirt. Let us as believers not be fooled until we have been examined by the sun of God's light.

Philippians 1:8 For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ. ⁹ And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰ that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, ¹¹ being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

“Sincere” refers to something that is able to stand inspection when put in the sunlight. In the Marines we had to spit-shine our dress shoes; and you really couldn’t tell whether they were without smudges until you looked at them in the sun light. In the Proverbs we find this statement, “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes; but the LORD weighs the hearts” (21:2; see 16:2 also). We humans do tend to think that what we do is OK; we can easily justify our actions as appropriate, finding an excuse for most anything that we do. However, God is the ultimate sunlight, the ultimate bright light that shines on all our actions, weighing it according to His righteousness. The Bible tells us that even our motives will come under His scrutiny one day (1Corinthians 4:4-5) and the “hidden things” will be brought “to light.”

Christians, as Paul prayed, should live in such a way that they are “sincere” or “pure” in their motives and deeds. That they should live according to the word of God and the leading of God’s Holy Spirit, allowing both to expose any smudge, any wayward thought or deed, bring everything into obedience to Christ. This may seem a tall order, particularly when you’ve measured yourself by God’s righteous standard; Christ; but this is the will of God for His children. As I wrote in the last email we are to keep God’s goal in focus always striving to be like Jesus in “all things.”

Tabernacle and Temple Details

As you know, I love the ESV (English Standard Version) Study Bible. I have written of it several times here in this blog. I ran across this blog site where it is showing you the details of the Tabernacle and the Temple from that Study Bible. This is good. Click here to see it.

Sermon notes from Sunday, December 6, 2009

I began a new, but short (2 messages) series today for Christmas called "Gifts from Seasoned Saints." Today, I preached about Anna from Luke 2: 36-38. Read the notes here. Next Sunday, Mrs. Lucille Camp will be sharing in the service. Then in two weeks (12-20), I will preach from Simeon's life in Luke 2.

Benefits of Expository Preaching

Tony Merida, Teaching Pastor of Temple Baptist Church, Hattiesburg, MS wrote Faithful Preaching, 2009. In this book, he gives the benefit of a pastor doing expository preaching. Let me list his nine benefits with his explanations as they appear in the book:

First, exposition calls for attention to be given to biblical doctrine. One has to preach on every doctrinal issue if they preach the whole council of God. This keeps the preacher from only dealing with his favorite subjects, and it will give the hearers theological stability.

Second, exposition, done well, is good for both audiences: believers and non-believers. If one preaches the Scriptures in view of its redemptive history that culminates in Jesus, then the gospel will be integrated naturally into every sermon. The unbeliever will be confronted with his need for repentance and his hope that is in Christ. On the other hand, exposition will grow the believers in the church and remind them that they do not work for grace but from grace and by grace. So I am a huge fan, and hopefully a practitioner of, gospel-filled exposition.

Third, exposition gives authority to the message. Preachers that just try to be cutting-edge, or fill their sermons with endless stories, lose authority. The authority of the sermon is not in the suggestions, stories, or observations of the preacher. Authority comes from God’s Word.

Fourth, exposition magnifies Scripture. Preachers may claim to believe in the sufficiency of God’s Word, but if they do not take people for a swim in the text, then they deny their belief in practice. You will show your people what you believe about the Bible by how you use it. This is how you magnify the nature of Scripture with something more than repeated clichés.

Fifth, exposition is God-centered not man-centered. By starting with God’s Word instead of a popular idea or a perceived need, the preacher will expose the nature and truth of the Triune God to people—which is their greatest need.

Sixth, exposition provides a wealth of material for preaching. By moving through the Scriptures, you will avoid reductionism; that is, picking only the topics that seem important (money, sex, and power). The Bible will provide you with more subjects to preach on than you ever dreamed. A holistic approach will produce holistic Christians.

Seventh, exposition grows the person delivering the Word. This is the most enjoyable part of committing to exposition. By studying the text week by week, you will be developed as a disciple and you will continue to fill your soul with spiritual nourishment.

Eighth, exposition ensures the highest level of biblical knowledge for the congregation. By regularly expounding the Word of God, you will train a group of people who know the Scriptures. Further, you will not only remind them of who they are in Christ and how to glorify God, but you will also train them to think Christianly. Other types of preaching may put a band aid on people’s felt needs, but such will not transform their worldview unless they understand the mind of the Holy Spirit in the Word. Exposition is a primary means of transforming people by the renewal of their mind (Rom 12:2).

Finally, exposition teaches people how to study the Bible on their own. The old saying is true, “Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day; teach him how to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime.” By moving systematically through passages and books you will teach the people how to engage the text. They will understand the importance of context, words, and biblical genres. After doing exposition in various places, I have discovered that the people are able to predict my next point, and see how I got it. Expository preaching will produce expository preachers and expository students.

Anne Graham Lotz' new book review

Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of Billy Graham ( who he called the best preacher of his children), has written a new devotional book (Magnificent Obsession: Embracing the God-Filled Life) and is just coming out. Baptist Press did a story on it today. Here is some of that article. To read it fully, click here.

In the aftermath of 9/11, religions in America took a front page position, and Anne Graham Lotz felt burdened to convey the message that the one true God is not interested in religion.

"Abraham is considered the patriarch of these religions (Judaism, Islam & Christianity), but he actually left religion in order to pursue a personal relationship with God. He was not a religious man from the time he left Ur on. He instead pursued a relationship with God," she said.

"So it was really 9/11 and the aftermath of that and what I see going on now that I felt like it needed to be underscored that we're not talking about religion," she said. "God has not invited us to a religion or a denomination or an organization. He has invited us to a personal relationship with Himself."

After studying the life of Abraham for 33 years and following his pattern of interacting with God, Lotz decided the time was right to communicate her testimony through the book "Magnificent Obsession: Embracing the God-Filled Life," the story of friendship with God in a daily walk of obedient faith.

"I think just having that quiet, focused time to spend with God every day is vitally necessary to pursuing a relationship with Him. You establish that relationship at the cross by faith, but then you develop it day by day, step by step," Lotz, evangelist Billy Graham's daughter, said. "It requires time spent reading your Bible, listening for His voice to speak to you, applying it to your life, living it out in obedience.

"And then it also requires talking to Him in prayer, developing a prayer life. Busyness hinders both of those things, I think. Even if we make the time for them, we can be so distracted or so tired that we don't keep our focus and we don't concentrate."

One way Lotz could have been knocked off course early on in her walk with God was to allow criticism from people in the church to defeat her, she said. One of the major lessons she had to learn was from Hagar in the story of Abraham.

"She was a servant girl who was hurt by those who called themselves by God's name, and I think one of the biggest lessons to learn is that God is not necessarily like the people that call themselves by His name," Lotz said. "God is not necessarily like the way Christians portray Him -- so to separate out the two.

"Don't let the way people treat you in His name turn you against God or cause you to forsake God because that's not Him. I think that's one thing. And then the other thing in my life has been when I'm treated that way it makes me 1) recognize there's a difference between God and the people that sometimes give a very tarnished reflection of Him and 2) it makes me want to pursue Him even more," she said.

"I want to know Him, not the way people say He is or people think He is or people hope He is. I don't want to know Him secondhand that way. I want to know Him firsthand for myself. I want to be strong in my relationship with Him so that when I am treated that way I can sort it out.

"Sometimes people can be firm or strict or harsh and actually they do the right thing and just don't do it in the right way. But sometimes people in God's name will do the wrong thing in the wrong way and it's not from God at all. I want to have a strong enough relationship with Him that I can know that difference," Lotz said.

Why People Become Atheists

As the members of our fellowship know, I am studying to do some teaching on atheism in January. Rick Warren just tweeted this:

People become atheists because of hurt, then seek intellectual arguments to validate their desire to live without God.

What DID Jesus do?

By John MacArthur)

Today’s post comes from John’s new book, The Jesus You Can’t Ignore.

There’s nothing wrong with asking, “What would Jesus do?” That’s a fine question. For our purposes, we might ask, "What would Jesus do in response to the contemporary evangelical landscape."

How would He react to the post-evangelical goulash of opinions represented in Christian magazines, in the Emerging blogosphere, or in the trendy evangelical megachurches that have held the evangelical movement in thrall for the past few decades? Would He affirm the current mainstream of evangelical apathy toward truth and authentic biblical unity? Would He approve of those who, confronted with a plethora of contradictions and doctrinal novelties, simply celebrate their movement’s “diversity” while trying to avoid all controversy, embracing every theological renegade, and elevating orthopraxy over orthodoxy? Was Jesus’ meek-and-gentle mildness of that sort?

I’m convinced we can answer those questions with confidence if we first ask a slightly different question: Whatdid Jesus do? How did He deal with the false teachers, religious hypocrites, and theological miscreants of His time? Did He favor the approach of friendly dialogue and collegial disagreement, or did He in fact adopt a militant stance against every form of false religion?

Anyone even superficially familiar with the gospel accounts ought to know the answer to that question, because there is no shortage of data on the matter. Jesus’ interaction with the Scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites of His culture was full of conflict from the start of His earthly ministry to the end. Sometimes the Pharisees provoked the conflict; more often than not, Jesus did. Hostile is not too strong a word to describe His attitude toward the religious system they represented, and that was evident in all His dealings with them.

Jesus never suffered professional hypocrites or false teachers gladly. He never shied away from conflict. He never softened His message to please genteel tastes or priggish scruples. He never suppressed any truth in order to accommodate someone’s artificial notion of dignity. He never bowed to the intimidation of scholars or paid homage to their institutions.

And He never, never, never treated the vital distinction between truth and error as a merely academic question.

Sunday's Sermon Notes from November 29, 2009

Here are the sermon notes from Sunday's sermon "The Anti-Christ" from Daniel 7-8. Click here. This is the last of the messages from Daniel until after the first of the year.

Was Jesus Nice?

(By John MacArthur)

Today’s post comes from John’s new book, The Jesus You Can’t Ignore.

The Great Shepherd Himself was never far from open controversy with the most conspicuously religious inhabitants in all of Israel. Almost every chapter of the Gospels makes some reference to His running battle with the chief hypocrites of His day, and He made no effort whatsoever to be winsome in His encounters with them. He did not invite them to dialogue or engage in a friendly exchange of ideas.

Jesus’ public ministry was barely underway when He invaded what they thought was their turf—the temple grounds in Jerusalem—and went on a righteous rampage against their mercenary control of Israel’s worship. He did the same things again during the final week before His crucifixion, immediately after His triumphal entry into the city. One of His last major public discourses was the solemn pronunciation of seven woes against the scribes and Pharisees. These were formal curses against them. That sermon was the farthest thing from a friendly dialogue. But it is a perfect summary of Jesus’ dealings with the Pharisees. It is blistering denunciation—a candid diatribe about the seriousness of their error. There is no conversation, no collegiality, no dialogue, and no cooperation. Only confrontation, condemnation, and (as Matthew 23 records) curses against them.

Jesus’ compassion is certainly evident in two facts that bracket this declamation. First, Luke says that as He drew near the city and observed its full panorama for this final time, He paused and wept over it (Luke 19:41-44). And second, Matthew records a similar lament at the end of the seven woes (23:37). So we can be absolutely certain that as Jesus delivered this diatribe, His heart was full of compassion.

Yet that compassion is directed at the victims of the false teaching, not the false teachers themselves. There is no hint of sympathy, no proposal of clemency, no trace of kindness, no effort on Jesus’ part to be “nice” toward the Pharisees. Indeed, with these words Jesus formally and resoundingly pronounced their doom and then held them up publicly as a warning to others.

This is the polar opposite of any invitation to dialogue. He doesn’t say, “They’re basically good guys. They have pious intentions. They have some valid spiritual insights. Let’s have a conversation with them.” Instead, He says, “Keep your distance. Be on guard against their lifestyle and their influence. Follow them, and you are headed for the same condemnation they are.”

This approach would surely have earned Jesus a resounding outpouring of loud disapproval from today’s guardians of evangelical protocol. In fact, His approach to the Pharisees utterly debunks the cardinal points of conventional wisdom among modern and post-modern evangelicals—the neoevangelical fondness for eternal collegiality, and the Emerging infatuation with engaging all points of view in endless conversation. By today’s standards, Jesus’ words about the Pharisees and His treatment of them are breathtakingly severe.

We Preach Christ

I think every serious student of the Bible has wrestled with God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. I found the following quote by Iain Murray and loved it.

“There is no inconsistency between believing that God has a special sovereign love before the foundation of the world that is efficacious and brings in all the Body of Christ and that there is too love for all men, and that no man knows to which of those loves he has been brought until he is converted. In other words, it is the love of God in Christ that is proclaimed. And theoretical problems about how is this consistent with that, and so on, are not really our concern. And ultimately, we don’t even know the answer to that. So, Robert Candlish (1806-1873), another Free Church divine, says, ‘We don’t preach a limited atonement or a universal atonement. We preach a saving Christ. And when people come to Christ, then they find they have been redeemed and his blood has been shed for them.’”

The Manhattan Declaration

In case you have not heard of this, you should. The Manhattan Declaration is a 4,700 word document written in the fall "issues a clarion call to Christians to adhere to their convictions and informs civil authorities that the signers will not - under any circumstance - abandon their Christian consciences." The press release is here. The declaration was drafted by Robert George, Timothy George, and Chuck Colson and signed by more than 150 Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christian leaders. Several Southern Baptists were among the original signatories, including George, Colson, Danny Akin, David Dockery, Jimmy Draper, Jonathan Falwell, Jack Graham, Richard Land, Jim Law, Ben Mitchell, Al Mohler, Russ Moore, David Platt, Bob Reccord, Robert Sloan, James Emery White, and Hayes Wicker.

The most notable who didn't sign is John MacArthur. As I read his reason and others, it seems the biggest issue for them was uniting with those who do not believe, as we, about the gospel. I understand that totally, but it didn't seem this document is about the gospel, but social issues.

This is the essence of the document:

We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are:

1. the sanctity of human life
2. the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife
3. the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving is a deeply theological act, rightly understood. As a matter of fact, thankfulness is a theology in microcosm — a key to understanding what we really believe about God, ourselves, and the world we experience.

A haunting question is this: How do atheists observe Thanksgiving? I can easily understand that an atheist or agnostic would think of fellow human beings and feel led to express thankfulness and gratitude to all those who, both directly and indirectly, have contributed to their lives. But what about the blessings that cannot be ascribed to human agency? Those are both more numerous and more significant, ranging from the universe we experience to the gift of life itself.

Can one really be thankful without being thankful to someone? It makes no sense to express thankfulness to a purely naturalistic system. The late Stephen Jay Gould, an atheist and one of the foremost paleontologists and evolutionists of his day, described human life as “but a tiny, late-arising twig on life’s enormously arborescent bush.” Gould was a clear-headed evolutionist who took the theory of evolution to its ultimate conclusion — human life is merely an accident, though a very happy accident for us. Within that worldview, how does thankfulness work?

The Apostle Paul points to a central insight about thankfulness when he instructs the Christians in Rome about the reality and consequences of unbelief. After making clear that God has revealed himself to all humanity through the created order, Paul asserts that we are all without excuse when it comes to our responsibility to know and worship the Creator.

He wrote:

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. . . [Romans 1:20-22].

This remarkable passage has at its center an indictment of thanklessness. They did not honor Him as God or give thanks. Paul wants us to understand that the refusal to honor God and give thanks is a raw form of the primal sin. Theologians have long debated the foundational sin — and answers have ranged from lust to pride. Nevertheless, it would seem that being unthankful, refusing to recognize God as the source of all good things, is very close to the essence of the primal sin. What explains the rebellion of Adam and Eve in the Garden? A lack of proper thankfulness was at the core of their sin. God gave them unspeakable riches and abundance, but forbade them the fruit of one tree. A proper thankfulness would have led our first parents to avoid that fruit at all costs, and to obey the Lord’s command. Taken further, this first sin was also a lack of thankfulness in that the decision to eat the forbidden fruit indicated a lack of thankfulness that took the form of an assertion that we creatures — not the Creator — know what is best for us and intend the best for us.

They did not honor Him as God or give thanks. Clearly, honoring God as God leads us naturally into thankfulness. To honor Him as God is to honor His limitless love, His benevolence and care, His provision and uncountable gifts. To fail in thankfulness is to fail to honor God — and this is the biblical description of fallen and sinful humanity. We are a thankless lot.

Sinners saved by the grace and mercy of God know a thankfulness that exceeds any merely human thankfulness. How do we express thankfulness for the provision the Father has made for us in Christ, the riches that are made ours in Him, and the unspeakable gift of the surpassing grace of God? As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift” [2 Corinthians 9:15].

So, observe a wonderful Thanksgiving — but realize that a proper Christian Thanksgiving is a deeply theological act that requires an active mind as well as a thankful heart. We need to think deeply, widely, carefully, and faithfully about the countless reasons for our thankfulness to God.

It is humbling to see that Paul so explicitly links a lack of thankfulness to sin, foolishness, and idolatry. A lack of proper thankfulness to God is a clear sign of a basic godlessness. Millions of Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving with little consciousness of this truth. Their impulse to express gratitude is a sign of their spiritual need that can be met only in Christ.

So have a very Happy Thanksgiving — and remember that giving thanks is one of the most explicitly theological acts any human can contemplate. O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting [1 Chronicles 16:34]. Give thanks.

Blog from Dr. Al Mohler, President, Southern Seminary, Louisville, KY