The Root Problem...our ever-quickening departure from God

At times, certain things happen that quite literally make us feel sick.  Normally, a big news event would have us chirping about it—getting other perspectives—feeling anxious to share the big news with those who hadn’t heard.  Not this one. 

View him in the context of the Gospel

This morning, I was listening to a local radio station before coming in to work.  The News Director reported a story about a street preacher who is “one of the men who has been causing all the trouble at Bentleyville,” the local Christmas Park I mentioned in my last blog.  He immediately corrected the obviously biased statement with an awkward ad-lib amendment, “er, at least the one causing trouble for the city and for the founder of Bentleyville.”

The Greater Scandal

Recently in our community, a scandal has broken out over--of all things, preaching the gospel.  Each year, the city has contracted with a private party to host a Christmas park of sorts with piped in music, concessions and most centrally—a vast and truly dazzling display of Christmas lights.

"brand plucked from the fire"

This morning, I spent my entire time in Bible study in one of my favorite and most vivid Old Testament pictures of the gospel in Zechariah chapter three.  This high priest/prophet ministered to the Jews after their return from exile. The Jews were very discouraged during this period because the reality of being back in their homeland had not met their expectations. 

How is it now called "Women's Health Care"?

As we were reminded in the recent election cycle, the issue of abortion is now almost exclusively referred to as a “women’s health care” issue or perhaps a “woman’s health care decision.” Hence the alleged “evolution” of how we are to think of abortion is now complete.

Accept his love and rejoice in it—never doubt it

I just finished reading through Daniel in my devotions.  Daniel has long been one of my favorite Bible characters.  He ministered during uniquely difficult times.  Israel was in exile, disconnected from the Jerusalem, the temple and many of the means of grace he had previously provided to his people in order to maintain a relationship with him. 

A Truth-Driven Vote on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

There is only one way any thinking, truth-driven Christian can vote Tuesday on the proposed constitutional amendment to uphold a traditional understanding of marriage.  That is to vote “yes.” But we must not allow ourselves the luxury of thinking that this amendment if passed is a definitive answer. 

The other day I was thinking about how blessed churches are that have nice buildings.  This is not a prerequisite to worship—that is a matter of the heart (John 4:24). Nor should churches be evaluated on the basis of their facilities.  We have all been to ecclesiastical grave yards with beautiful walnut pews.  My point is simply that those churches that are blessed to have buildings should not take them and the many blessings they can bring for granted.  When we dedicated our building more than seven years ago, I said the following.  These words are still an encouragement to me and I hope, to you as well. 

A Cause to Hope

We conclude our series of blogs on the book of Ecclesiates.  If you would like to listen to the messages or read the manuscripts that are preached on this book, please feel free to access them on our website www.mountofolives.net  under “Media/Resources.”  When you land on that page, simply click “Launch Media Player” and choose from the list of messages.  We want to close by providing the most important reason to study this Old Testament Wisdom book.  That is: studying the book of Ecclesiastes causes us to hope in the supremacy and perfections of Christ.

Finding Empathy for the Lost

A second reason to study the book of Ecclesiastes today is: it helps us empathize with the lost people around us.  Jesus says the lost are “like sheep without a shepherd, harassed and helpless.”  Their lives are meaningless and vulnerable to destruction, but it’s hard for us to keep that truth in our head when many of them seem to be doing better than we are.  When the truths in Ecclesiastes become part of us—they equip us to look at someone like Donald Trump and be genuinely heartbroken for him.

Finding Value in Ecclesiastes

As we continue to introduce the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, we want to discuss some reasons why this book—with its uniquely negative tone, is so valuable to explore and internalize today.  The first specific reason it’s good to dig into this book is because—it helps us persevere in trials.  Some might think, “We all know that life is hard—we don’t need a weekly reminder of it from the pulpit.”  We DO all mentally apprehend that life is hard, but I’ve met very few believers who have internalized that truth in a way that encourages them when they are experiencing the trials of life.

On a Human Level, it is Futile

Last time, we began a short series of blogs on a book that is too frequently (and tragically) overlooked in 21^st Century North America.  We continue that line of thinking here. The implicit theological truth that underscores this very negative view of life is that this planet and all life on it, human and otherwise, is not as God originally designed.  It is fallen, warped, twisted, shattered, broken, darkened, embattled.  On a human level, it is futile. 

Into Ecclesiastes...

For the next few months before Christmas, I will be preaching through the book of Ecclesiastes.  The next few blogs will be given to discussing the enigmatic but very relevant book of the Bible. This book is part of what is called the ‘wisdom literature’ of the Bible that also includes Psalms, Proverbs and Job.  The broad purpose of wisdom literature is to help a person live life well.  Part of living life well is believing that without God, this world and everything in it is ultimately without meaning—it is vanity. 

A few more thoughts on repentance…

A few more thoughts on repentance…The Greek word for repentance is “metanoia” which simply means a “change of mind.”  Repenting means to change your mind or your attitude about a particular sin.  As we was in my last blog, if we equate repentance with a change in behavior, that can result in some serious errors. 

Elements of Repentance

Thomas Watson, a Puritan preacher and author wrote a book on repentance that is very helpful in understanding this often-misunderstood doctrine.   Watson says repentance involves six things.  First is seeing your sin.  Sometimes I don’t see own my sin without help—my wife or someone else sometimes must point it out to me.  You can’t repent of sin you don’t acknowledge.  Second, repentance involves sorrowing over your sin. 

The Gospel and Discipleship

For many believers, discipleship is fundamentally about duty.  A disciple is one who dies for Jesus—they are sacrificially committed to him—even up to the point of death.  That’s certainly true, but if that truth is isolated from the gospel, it will suck the life out of you.

We are not servants who worship, but worshippers who serve

It’s crucial to our spiritual health that we view our Christian life first and foremost within the context of worship.   John Piper’s classic missions book, “Let the Nations be Glad” asserts that the purpose of missions is to create worshippers.  Mission exists where worship does not.  But this truth about the foundational nature of worship doesn’t just apply to mission, but to all aspects of the Christian life.  We must think about the Christian life this way—it is meant to be lived as a worshipful response—to the gospel--to all that Christ is for us and all he has done for us. 

The Bible is a book about Jesus Christ

We said in our last blog that the gospel is the power of all of our salvation, not just our conversion.  Part of the reason many of us in the church fail to make the gospel the central hub around which we build our lives is because we’ve been taught a wrong understanding of the Bible.  Today, most believers have been conditioned to think about the Bible primarily as a handbook for spiritual transformation.  It’s a manual for being like Jesus.  If we can just get enough of the Bible into us—in some mysterious way, we will be more and more like Jesus, so we must read a lot of it so we can be like Jesus.  For many believers—that is more or less the way they view the Scriptures.  In fact, that is horribly misguided.  We must see the Bible through this lens and that is--the Bible is a book about Jesus Christ.

Justification produces Sanctification in our lives...

Romans 1:16-17 is a precious truth for believers for several reasons, but I want you to notice something about it that perhaps you’ve missed before.  Paul writes, “¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”  Paul says that the gospel is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.”  Notice Paul does not say, “the gospel is the power of God for the CONVERSION of everyone who believes.” 

Sabbatical Season

Pastor Duncan Ross will be on Sabbatical from May 1, 2012 until July 31, 2012.  The month of August he will be preparing to be the Bible Teacher at a Pioneers International Retreat in the UK.  Please look for new postings in September!

Both-And...

We American believers have taken the mentality of have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too to new extremes even though we intuitively know that this is not the way of the kingdom.  We want the BOTH-AND, the WIN-WIN situations where we get everything we want.  Early on, most of us learned that this was not the reality.  “You can either have the baseball cards OR the army men, NOT both”—my mother used to tell me.  This matter would be little more than interesting if so many believers did not bring this BOTH-AND mentality into how they relate to the kingdom of God and the things of this world.¹⁹ “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, ²⁰ but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”  You’ll notice that Jesus gives a choice—you can either lay-up treasures on earth—which are perishable OR, you can lay up treasures in heaven-which are imperishable and last forever.  There is not a BOTH-AND option here.  This means that we cannot think to ourselves, “I will pursue wealth, gather possessions, gain status and influence and I will use those to leverage kingdom ministry.”  That is the BOTH-AND position and it is American materialism dressed up in kingdom language.  Jesus calls us to a choice.  Either the treasures of this world—the things this world goes after—that we can have NOW, OR the treasures in heaven we must wait for.

"Christian"

Certain events in the media have once again reminded us of an important lesson within the church.  A nationally known singer and actress dies and the world adamantly insists she is a Christian because she grew up in the church, singing gospel songs.  The fact that most of her adult life was a  wasteland of addiction that in no way pointed to Christ seems to be irrelevant.  A national leader claims to be a Christian and is affirmed in this by others who are more devout than he.  This, in spite of the fact that the leader has moral/ethical positions that are absolutely incompatible with many clear, Biblical truths.  This man was in his pre-political private life ridiculously tight fisted with money for charity and belonged to a church that could in no way be identified with an orthodox, Christ-honoring fellowship. Another man-- a presidential candidate who belongs to a religion that openly denies the doctrine of the Trinity and the deity of Christ is also regularly referred to as a “Christian.”  I have no personal axe to grind with any of these people.  In many ways they are all admirable in their talent and or/achievements.  However, we in Christ’s church must not be sucked in to this world’s understanding of a “Christian.”  Mark it down.  In the vast majority of cases where the popular media refers to someone as a “Christian,” what is really being communicated is that the individual is not a Muslim or Hindu or any other faith and has spent some time in church.  We must not forget there is a very big difference between what this world calls a “Christian” and a Biblical understanding of what it is to be a blood-bought child of God.

Your comfort over ministry

What is the difference between a clique and a set of healthy Christian friendships in a church?  Cliques are a bane to the gathered church—whether on Sunday mornings, Wednesdays or whenever the church comes together.  They shatter unity because in their desire to feel safe and understood, they ignore brothers and sisters in Christ who are part of the same body.  In other words, cliques don’t gather for ministry, but because they want a zone of comfort around them that makes them feel like they belong.  There is nothing wrong with feeling like you belong, but when you place that agenda next to the agenda ministering to others in need within the body, the Biblical priority is clear.  A church made up of many cliques is not really a church in one sense—it’s a set of independent groups rather than a gathered body.

Praying the Promises

I was asked to preach at the women’s day of prayer in our church on praying the promises of God.  What a fruitful time of study this was for my own heart.  Below are three reasons why praying the promises of the Bible back to God are very good for your prayer life.

The first reason praying the promises will greatly enhance your prayer life is:  the promises by their nature infuse grace into our prayer life.  They’re generally promises that God will do something good-- in your or someone else’s life.  That’s grace because the promises are expressions of God’s love and goodness to us--grace.  When we sense God’s love for us, we will want to spend time with God because he is good and he loves us.  The Law on the other hand brings failure, causing us to believe that God is mad or disgusted with us.  Let me ask you, how many of you get excited about going into a room alone with someone who you think is mad or disgusted with you?  If you are living under Law, that’s what your prayer life is like—no wonder you don’t pray.  Your prayer life will either be very weak, or, at the other extreme, because it is rooted in your own effort, it will end up producing self-righteousness in you seen when you look down your nose at others who are not devoted “prayer warriors”… like you. 

Jesus is God

Col. 1:15-20

 ^“15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ 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. ¹⁹ For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”

who am I going to live for?

As we start a new year, I think there is much to be gained in asking yourself this question:

who am I going to live for?

Let’s think about the Gospel in relation to that question: The Gospel says: you are not good enough – but God has come and made you good enough.  And because He has given His life for you – your response is to live for Him.

We see this in the New Testament:

Romans 12:1

¹ I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.