Galatians 1:6-7

I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

The first subject, verb and direct object we see in this passage is you (subject), are deserting (verb), and Him (direct object). (I've been working with my daughter on English). This is quite an accusation being delivered to the Galatians. He is calling them deserters. This is the same Greek word (metathemi) used to describe military desertion. It means to transfer one-self, change sides or parties, turn away from someone. They have deserted Christ and they have done it not long at all after Paul left from delivering the gospel to them. Paul says he is amazed. He wonders. He is at a loss for words at how quickly and hastily they have turned away. And they have not just turned away from the correct gospel, they have turned away from Christ Himself! Wow! When we distort the gospel we do not just have incorrect doctrine; we are deserting Christ! Any time there is a turning away, there is a turning to. When they(or we) turned away from Christ, they were turning away from His grace. They turned to a different gospel. The "gospel" being spoken of is a "gospel" of law. As mentioned in earlier notes (vv.3-5), Judaizers were teaching people they must obey the law in order to be saved. As Paul mentions, this is not really even a "gospel." Why? Gospel, by definition, is "good news." What is so "good news" about having to do the impossible to be saved? Besides, that would not be "being saved." That would be "saving ourselves."
Although they turned away quickly, Paul does not fail to mention they were troubled, or disturbed, in the process. Was the Holy Spirit convicting and they ignored Him? Or is he saying there was dissension in the church as a result? I don't know.
What I do know is that these perverts (the Judaizers) were doing this willfully! The Greek word for "want to" or "would" distort means, "to will, wish, desire, implying active volition and purpose." Why do I call them perverts? That's what they were doing. They were committing spiritual adultery; turning from from a grace relationship with Christ to an obedience relationship with the law. They were perverting the gospel of Jesus Christ.
A couple of interesting notes from these verses:
1. Paul is speaking to believers. We know this from his greeting and from his comment in verse six, "Him who called you." He is speaking to the called. Let us preach the gospel, the real gospel, to ourselves daily. Let us not be deceived into the idea that we can earn our salvation through our obedience, lest He call us deserters!
2. How can we know when we are turning away? When we turn away from Christ (the person) we almost always turn to an idea, such as obedience or good deeds. Let us always keep the focus of our faith on the person of Christ!

Heaven's Gates Update

A couple of weeks ago I had a great lunch with Pastor Bob Rogers of Rincon FBC. We talked briefly about the Heaven's Gates and Hell's Flames drama. Pastor Bob assured me that there were more hands up than I was able to see from my position in the room. I assured him I would make that right on my blog.
For the complete post on this drama see my post dated Wednesday, August 31 titled, "Hell's Flames at Heaven's Gates?

Back From Gulfport

Last week a group of eight people (3 from Ephesus) went to Gulfport, Mississippi to help with hurricane relief. The group went as representatives of Effingham CARES. Once we arrived, we met up with the Effingham CARES missionary there in Gulfport. Rick Thomas and his wife Wanda have parked there RV in the parking lot of Cross Point Church where several other church groups from around the country arrive weekly to help out. Each week a new team from Effingham meets up with the Thomas' to minister to the people in Gulfport. The Effingham CARES team has adopted a community in order to build relationships with the people there. This was such a blessing to me and the rest of the team. Of particular interest, was Ms. Mamie. Ms. Mamie is an 83 year-old woman who rode out the storm in her weathered down home.

In addition to Ms. Mamie's home we cleared trees from several other homes and helped to clean and repair the neighborhood church being used as a distribution center. The folks at Victory Temple Worshp Center were a tremendous blessing to us. Isn't amazing when you go to serve others and leave knowing in your heart that you were the most blessed?
On Friday we hosted a neighborhood block party where we served over 100 hamburgers and hotdogs to residents of that community. We had several opportunities to share the gospel.
Some of us had the opportunity to travel to the most devastated area. Wow. While in Gulfport, I had my camera bag stolen out of the church van. I have been so frustrated about that. I don't care about the bag. I had the camera around my neck. But my jump drive was in the bag and is probably now in a dumpster somewhere. On that jumpdrive were about 100 family pictures and several important files. None of them able to be replaced. And then I remembered what I saw along the Gulf Coast. Many got away with only the clothes on their backs. Several did not get away. Those who did returned to see their homes completely gone. Nothing left but the cement slab. Surely in those homes were more than hundreds of family pictures. Gone. Yes, even pictures that last from generation to generation are temporary. It is at these times it is sweet to have the Spirit testify withour spirit that we are children of God and that is eternal.
Consider Psalm 148:7-8:
Praise the Lord from the earth, sea monsters and all deeps; Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word.