ANOTHER GOSPEL (which is no gospel at all):

Well, the summer isn't off to a very good start for Christians.

On May 28, 2011, an organization called the American Clergy Leadership Conference (ACLC) invited Mr. Louis Farrakhan to be their guest speaker.  Yeah, so what?  Well, Farrakhan is the leader of the Nation of Islam (not to be confused with its kissing-cousin Islam), where "the Principles of Divine Unity and the Universal Brotherhood of Islam" are taught.  NOI is a mish-mashing of Christianity and Islam together so as to unify all religious ideologies under Islam.  So why was he speaking to a group of "christian" clergy on May 28th when he called President Obama an assassin and a murderer? (see youtube video below)

On its face, it appeared Farrakhan was speaking to christian clergy...but the ACLC was formed ca. 2000 when 120 clergy of various religious convictions joined together to affirm the revelation of God to one Sun Myung Moon...yes, the founder of the Unification Church, where universalism (i.e, many different paths lead to God) is taught and embraced.  Moon's ideology calls for the unification of all religious theologies under the banner of the body of Christ.

That poor, deceived group.  Not only by Moon, but also by Farrakhan.
This leads me to my second instance of shameful behavior in Christendom.

On June 26th, several churches (26 I think) around the United States were scheduled to read passages from the Qu'ran to their congregation during their regular worship services so as to send "a message both here at home and to the Arab and Muslim world about our respect for Islam".  At a time when truth seems to be all but extinct, "'Interfaith' conferences and meetings are being held with increasing frequency all over the globe.  Major global religious leaders are urging all of us to focus on our “shared” religious traditions."

A familiar passage comes to mind here for the Church: "If anyone preaches another gospel (other than Jesus Chrsit), let him be accursed!" The Church better wake up, because I have a hunch judgment is pounding on the door!

MODEL THE GOSPEL & BE QUICK TO FORGIVE:

I respect stay-at-home moms.  My wife was gone a whopping 3 days this week, and I was reminded how exponentially more difficult her job is than mine.  She puts up with a lot of crud from our boys...and she does it pretty gracefully.

I, on the other hand, grew short-tempered with them...even over relatively minor things.  Today as I was cutting down trees, my 2 year old spilled my cold water (he has a bad habit of destroying that which isn't his and not taking care of things).  I blew up!  I was angry.  I told both boys to get away from me and to not touch whatever didn't belong to them any more.

I finished what I was doing and I calmed down.  After lunch, we all had quiet time away from each other.  After quiet time, I approached my oldest son (who was also there during my blow-up) and confessed that my behavior was downright wrong.  I told him what I did and how I should not have done it.  I confessed that I did not control my anger properly.  This is something we've been working on with him, because, unfortunately, he has my short fuse.

I modeled bad behavior.
I did not model the gospel to my sons.

Thankfully, my son was very quick to forgive me.  It is a special gift God has given him.  It is one thing we both share.  When we are hurt, we are both relatively quick to forgive.  We don't seem to harbor resentment for prolonged periods of time.  We both hurt easily, but we forgive easily, too.

I was cut deeply by a close friend at work recently. He was someone I thought would trust my word and be true to his, but wasn't. After talking it through, I was able to forgive him rather quickly. I'm not sure I can trust him all that much, but I was still able to forgive him.


I find it easy to forgive when I reflect on God's tolerance for me and my bad behavior.  For some strange reason, He readily forgives me when I sin over and over and over and over again.  And my sin against God is infinitely greater than any person's sin will ever be against me.  How could I dare harbor grudges toward others when God has chosen not to harbor a grudge against me?

Joshua, may you always be quick to forgive.
Thank you for modeling to gospel to your ol' man.
Well done!

"IS THE BIBLE RELIABLE: BUILDING THE HISTORICAL CASE", By Focus on the Family

"Is the Bible Reliable" is a 2-DVD set and study guide where the teacher, Dr. Stephen Meyer, leads a small group of 24 college-age students through biblical journeys defending the historicity and reliability of the Bible.  It is produced by Focus on the Family and is extremely similar to "The Truth Project", produced by the same organization. 

If you've seen or participated in The Truth Project, then you understand the setting for this series well: classroom setting.  The lessons are interesting: (1)The Patriarchal Narratives and the Documentary Hypothesis, (2)The Exodus: From Egypt to Canaan, (3)The Israelite Conquest, (4)The United Kingdom of David and Solomon, (5)Historicity of the Old Testament: A Tale of Two Conquests, (6)The Babylonian Conquest of Judah, (7)Canons of Historicity: The New Testament, (8)Early Composition of Luke and Acts, (9)External Corroboration, and (10)The Trial of Jesus. 

Meyer obviously knows his stuff...he proves it well in this series.  He seems to teach well, but sometimes he was a bit too fast or "skittish".  I tried hard not to compare him and this series to Dr. Dell Tackett's "The Truth Project", but I did.  I thought TTP was less hurried, if you will.  Thankfully, it is a DVD series, so the facilitators are free to press the pause button in order to take extra time for more thorough discussion.  Certainly, 30-minute overviews are not capable of covering every conceivable detail.  So, lots of facts, charts, and maps are crammed into the lesson in quick order.

Which leads me to the next issue: time.  I think the lessons could have been longer, so as to not feel rushed through the information.  I understand the audience is young people, but hey, it's high time we teach young people that exploration takes considerable time, and is not complete in a quick episode.

The physicality of the study guide is pretty nice!  Sturdy, colorful pages.  However, the content is lacking for being a study guide.  There doesn't seem to be too much depth in the guide, as if the students don't have the time to think through in discussion.  I would have liked to see it go deeper.

I likely would not purchase this series with my own money.  If someone bought it for a small group of students and asked me to facilitate, I would.  But I think the money would be much better spent purchasing "The Truth Project", though.  That one is produced with adults in mind, but college-age students wouldn't be left behind in that series.  This one seems a bit redundant in that respect.

I give "Is the Bible Reliable 3.5 stars out of 5...primarily for presentation.  I knock it down a point for being too rapid, and a half point for redundancy.

Disclaimer: I received this free DVD in exchange for my unbiased opinion of its content and presentation.  I was not expected to provide a positive review of this title.  All opinions are mine.

"THE FAITHFUL FATHER AND THE LAMB OF SACRIFICE:

AUDIO LINK HERE

Sunday -- Father's Day 2011 -- I spoke at the Pulaski (MI) Free Methodist Church.  The title of my message was "The Faithful Father and the Lamb of Sacrifice", taken from Genesis 22:1-18.

First, I have to say I truly enjoyed the experience of preaching.  While I have taught bible study groups and a house-church group, as well as various teaching capacities within my employment, this was by far the most fun and challenging experience at the same time.

I was invited to speak a little over a month ago by my friend, Mike, who is the senior pastor at PFMC.  He asked me to speak on a Father's Day-related theme.  I had thoughts about what text I wanted to use, but God inspired my wife to suggest the Abraham and Isaac account.  I thought about it and fell in love with the idea!

The theme fit well in the occasion, considering we would be celebrating Memorial Day -- where we reflect on those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice -- and Father's Day.  The Genesis 22 passage pointed to the One who made the ultimate sacrifice to save us, and as Bill Cosby once said, "I told you that story to tell you this one."  That's what God did in Gen 22: He gave us an account that pointed to and told the bigger story of God redeeming mankind through Jesus Christ.

I prayed and I prepared and I practiced and I prayed and prepared and practiced more.  I tweaked it and prayed and practiced and prepared until I had no more days left to prepare.  See, I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit, but I don't think He intends Christians to fly willy-nilly when teaching His word.  So I prepared as much as I humanly could; and I left the results up to Him. 

The church greeted me warmly and they took any load off my shoulders that was there.  I honestly was not nervous, and my heart wasn't leaping through my chest.  The Spirit of God ministered to me as I was about to minister to His people.  I reminded myself on my notes "God is with you."  After all, I was preaching HIS word on His behalf.

-- Which reminds me: about two weeks prior to Sunday, I began reading, "He is Not Silent", by Albert Mohler.  Two of his thoughts struck me.  First, "What a wonderful and humbling thought to realize that God has chosen enlivened dust like us to bear testimony to His glory" (p.41); and "It is a singuular privilege that He deigns to consecrate to Himself the mouths and tongues of men in order that His voice may resound in them" (p.43, quoted by Mohler of Kent Hughes, "Disciplines of a Godly Man). As if speaking before a group of people isn't challenging enough for some speakers, add to it the burden of speaking God's word effectively, correctly, and efficiently to those who would hear it.  Thank the Holy Spirit that while my words are not all that eloquent, His word is always perfect to accomplish what He desires (Is 55). --

Raising my hands in praise and worship, singing along with the congregation, I was hit by the "coincidence" of the songs fitting the message perfectly.  "Come Thou Fount" and "Amazing Grace" (Tomlin's version) plowed the soil of my heart before preaching God's word...and it confirmed God's desire to have this particular message spoken to this particular group and this particular time.  No, I never heard an audible voice, but I firmly believe nothing occurred accidentally. I was perplexed at the divine orchestration...and I never had contact with the musicians before Sunday.

God, you have proven in your word that you are faithful.  And if we will only look around, we will observe daily occurrences that continue to prove your faithfulness to us.  Thank you for reaching to such a great depth to save a sinner such as me.

FIERCE WORSHIP:

I’ve been to rock-n-roll concerts where we fans waved our hands, pumped our fists in the air, and sang horribly at the top of our lungs with our favorite rockers. We’d sing so loud we’d get headaches. We’d sweat. Our ears would ring long after the show.


The world has a bad rap, but maybe there’s something there – something we Christians might consider copying. I wonder if the rock concert is a taste of what’s in store in heaven when we worship our Savior.

I like what Albert Mohler’s thought in his book, “He is Not Silent”: “What would someone think about your God based on your worship?” If a complete stranger who knows nothing about religion or God walked into your church and watched your worship, what would he assume about the God you claim to follow? I wonder if he’d think a God with a cruel sense of humor poured sour milk and lemonade in our bowl of oat bran. I wonder if she’d come to the conclusion that we have been redeemed from so grave a condition.

Do you celebrate your favorite sporting team’s home run or touchdown more vibrantly than you worship your God? Do you worship your team the way you ought, instead, to celebrate your God?

Is our worship intense? Fierce? Joyful? Passionate? Does is look like celebration?

Our mere lip service is an indictment of the condition of our hearts, and Mark Dever nailed it when he recently spoke, “Our lips will praise what our heart follows.”

FOOLISH PRIDE:

In becoming more and more successful in my career, one thing is absolutely certain: pride stinks, and it's foolish!  Ok, that's actually two things...but they're related.

As I grow to recognize this ugly beast growing inside me, how ought a Christian continue pursuing goals that many people dream about...and at the same time begin stepping pride down to ground level?  I know the blessings I've received have come from God, and I recognize that.  But I've allowed them to seep into the fabric of my being, lying to myself that I'm some kind of great.  And I know It's wrong.  How do I defeat pride before it defeats me? 

I'm not sure.  
So I'm asking.

This week in Accident Investigator School (flashbacks to high school geomety, calculus, and trigonometry come to mind), an instructor told us that just about the time we think we've got the science of moving vehicles down pat, we'll forget stuff and realize we're idiots.

That same instructor read a quote I liked, so I'm sharing it with you: "We are ignorant; and we are ignorant to the fact of our ignorance...and that is ignorance squared.  And that's when bad things happen."

A former pastor once said, "When you know that you don't know something, that's good, because then you can be taught.  But when you don't know that you don't know something, that's bad, because you cannot be taught anything else."