Survival of the Foulest

Was Darwin right? Is the theory of evolution consistent with Scripture? An emphatic, NO! But… was Darwin on to something that is consistent with Scripture? Perhaps. Every movie plot deals with the tension between two ideas: right vs. wrong, good vs. evil, strong vs. weak. Why is this the focus of Hollywood? Because Hollywood strives to produce films with which people can relate. Like it or not, Hollywood is an accurate representation of our society. And like it or not, what we have seen in our society is the survival of the strongest. What makes the strongest strong? It is what is embraced by the majority of people. It is in this basic idea that Darwin was correct. Were my ancestors next-door neighbors to Sponge Bob? No way! While evolution is one of the most foolish concepts a depraved mind has ever conceived, that is not the focus of this article.
I will present three pieces of evidence that suggest a more accurate concept is the, “Survival of the Foulest.”
1. Television Ratings. Take a moment sometime to visit http://www.parentstv.org/. What you will see will astound you, maybe. There you will find explicit descriptions of the shows you friends, family, and perhaps even yourself dedicate hours of your life to watching. Why do we watch it night after night, week after week? Because it is entertaining to us. Which means we take pleasure in what we see. Back to my point, which shows receive the best ratings (the most people watching)? The shows that are able to show the most disgusting, raunchy, most immorally sexual, most foul scenes are the ones people prefer. We, as a culture, take pleasure in adultery. We take pleasure in sexual immorality. We take pleasure in murder. Basically, take a jog through the Ten Commandments and the rest of Scripture and you will find that everything that disgusts our holy God brings us pleasure. It is in the success of prime time television we see The Survival of the Foulest.
2. Fashion Trends. Why is it we are paying more and more for less and less? I’m not talking about the quality of the fabric. I’m talking about the amount of fabric. Clothing that is popular is that which shows the most flesh. The goal is to be as naked as possible without being legally nude. Before too long, there will be no such thing. I don’t think I need to belabor this point with my readers. The point is simply this: It is in fashion trends that we see The Survival of the Foulest.
3. The Church. What? Did he say the church? Yes, he did. What is the number one way to grow a local church? Adulterate the Word of God. Make people comfortable in their sin. Get them in church without them knowing they’re in church. Get them to say a prayer without them knowing they are talking to a holy, holy, holy God who detests their sin and is ready to pour out His wrath upon it. Tell them God loves them just as they are. Unfortunately, when they try to enter the Wedding Feast “as they are” they will realize that is not acceptable. The Lord Himself clothes us with the garment required to enter the Feast. He clothes us with the righteousness of Christ because we have none of our own.
So unfortunately, in a day when the Church should be standing in the face of a lost and dying culture, it has become the clearest evidence of The Survival of the Foulest.

Take it to Heart

Last Saturday, one of our church members, Randall Payne, was shot in a hunting accident and he did not survive. Randy loved the Lord and is now worshipping Him 24/7. Actually, Randy is no longer experiencing 24/7. He is now in that eternal state of worshipping His Creator. Some would say that scripture says, "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." It is true for the believer that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, but that's not what the scriptures say. 2 Corinthians 5:8 says, "we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord." Do you see the difference? Not only is the principle of being in the Lord's presence instantly true, it is preferred. Randy is where he prefers to be.
So, what do we do now? First we must attend the funeral, the house of mourning. Read Ecclesiastes 7:2 "It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, because that is the end of every man, and the living take it to heart." (emphasis mine) The Lord says a funeral is better time spent than a party. Why? Because we will all, one day, be the guest of honor at a funeral. We will all, one day, be the one to be mourned. Attending a funeral brings this fact to the front of the mind. One considers his life and his relationship with the Lord or whether there is a Lord. A funeral forces us to step back from the temporary and focus, if only for an hour, on the eternal.
Why is this important? Because we do not know when our eternity will begin. Randy was 42 years old. He was doing something he loved to do, hunt. He had all intentions of returning home to his wife and seven children.
And then...the accident. Or was it an accident? Let us look a little further down in Ecclesiastes to 7:13-14, "Consider the work of God, For who is able to straighten what He has bent? In the day of prosperity be happy, But in the day of adversity consider - God has made the one as well as the other so that man will not discover anything that will be after him."
God makes our good days. And God, yes God, makes our bad days. Yes, God makes our bad days. A wise man once said, "God does not make accidents, He makes appointments." How true. Read the last part of the last passage again. "So that man will not discover anything that will be after him."
Inside of the purpose of God's own glory, God created us for a relationship with Himself. That relationship is based on faith, trust, and obedience. If we knew events that were to come and were able to prepare for them, what need would we have for faith, trust and obedience? We are totally, one hundred percent dependent on the Lord for every breath and every need. And that is how He intended it to be. And so as our appointments unfold, let us run to Him, our rock and our refuge. He is the all sovereign, all powerful, omniscient, merciful, gracious, loving, ruler of the universe. Where else will we find our every need? He is in control of all things and all things are in His control.
This grievous event took us by surprise, but it was no accident. Believer, rest assured God does not make accidents. He filled His appointment book before the foundation of the world. And every name has its own time.
Randy was prepared for his appointment. Are you?

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.

Ditto:Good Idea

Russ has a link to a great article from Joe Thorn over at Words of Grace Blog . Anyone who blogs needs to read this article. Let us all constantly remind one another of our responsibility to only speak that which is edifying and useful for building up one another. This does not mean we cannot critique and challenge. It simply means if we do it without love in a way that honors our Lord, it is not only useless, it is sin.
Robert

Who CARES?

This is concerning the same subject as my previous post so I had to think of a new name! Effingham CARES had its first meeting yesterday. The time spent was very productive. We were joined by Dr. Rick Thomas. Rick is a member at Grace Community Church and is a servant of the Lord. Rick will leave tomorrow, Saturday, September 10, for Gulfport, Mississippi. There he will set up camp where he and his wife will remain for at least a month and a half. Rick will be the on-site coordinator/director for the missions teams coming from Effingham. This is where we come in. We need missions teams. This, ideally, will be a one-week commitment. We would leave on Saturday morning and return the following Saturday. If anyone is interested, please let me know ASAP. We will be announcing this at church on Sunday. Let's go serve Christ in Mississippi. More info will soon be available at www.effinghamcares.org.

Effingham CARES

I attended a lunch meeting today at Rincon First Baptist. Pastor Bob Rogers gracefully hosted a wonderful time of fellowship. Effingham pastors and church representatives gathered to discuss how the believers in Effingham County can come together to serve the hurricane victims in the name of Jesus Christ. Over an hour and a half the Lord blessed as we shared information and ideas. The outcome is a new organization called Effingham CARES (Christians Actively Responding to Emergency Situations). I now serve as chairman alongside a few other men who will lead this effort. We will be providing centralized giving stations as well as putting together teams of people to go serve on location. We will soon have a web site ready for viewing. Stay posted, as I will give any information updates on my blog.

Galatians 1:3-5

Galatians 1:3 -5
Perhaps the main theme of Galatians is that which was being attacked by false teachers during that time; justification by faith. False teachers, Judaizers, were teaching people they must obey the law in order to be saved. Paul wastes no time getting to the point. He begins here in his greeting setting the record straight. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ…” If the language here does not prove his point, the context of the rest of the verse does. Let us, however, consider the language first. We understand, I’m sure, charis. This is the word translated “grace.” Read the definition:
A favor done without expectation
of return; absolute freeness of the
loving-kindness of God to men,
finding its only motive in the
bounty and freeheartedness
of the Giver; unearned and
unmerited favor.
This word grace would have been sufficient, but Paul tacks on the phrase, “peace from God.” Isn’t it interesting he does not say peace to God? The word translated peace is the Greek word Eirene.
The word denotes the absence
of or end of strife. It denotes a
state of untroubled, undisturbed,
well-being. When it is combined
with charis it affects the character
of the person. That is, it further
defines that attribute of God,
which initiates the rescue of the
souls of men. Once again, it shows
us that it is God who has initiated
this transaction. Peace as a
Messianic blessing is that state
brought about by the grace
and loving mind of God wherein
the derangement and distress of
life caused by sin are removed. (Italics mine).
If the language has not already convinced the reader, let us move onto the context. Paul tells us how the peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ was transacted. He says it was accomplished through Christ who gave Himself for our sins. And the reason for that was to rescue us from this present evil age or world. Why do we need rescuing? We are on a sinking ship! We are on a plane that is going down! We live in a cursed world whose end is destruction. The scary part is that we deserve the end as much as anybody else. That is why this peace must be initiated by or from God. John tells us in 1 John 2:17 that the world is passing away. Oh the glorious Savior has swooped down from His heavenly abode into the depths of our wretched cave and rescued us from the most hideous of all creatures, ourselves. Let us not forget it is our sin that makes this age evil!
This was all done according to the wonderful blue print designed before the creation of the world. It was done according to the will of our God and Father. That is, it was done according to what God decided was for His good pleasure for His own glory. That means it was on His terms from the beginning. Jesus was simply following the playbook the Father had given Him. The Father was, has always, and will always call the shots.
To conclude this wonderful sermon jam-packed into two, seemingly small, verses Paul once again makes sure glory is given where it is due.
“… To whom (our God and Father) be the glory forevermore.”
The apostle Paul, through the inspiration of the Spirit, had a wonderful way of getting the point across with few words. While his greeting here is more than sincere, he is also teaching the sheep the truth.
Praise God to whom all glory is due!

Definitions taken from, “The Complete Word Study; New Testament.” Spiros Zodhiates.

Hell's Flames at Heaven's Gates?

Last night I attended the presentation of Heaven's Gates and Hell's Flames. It is quite sad to witness hundreds of people being taught a false gospel. Here I will point out just a few of the heresies.
1. Satan is portrayed as ruling hell. There he torments and tortures those who have not "prayed the prayer." Look at Revelation 20:10, "And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." Hell was created for the torture of Satan not for his rule.
2. One scene depicts a mother and daughter at the gates of heaven. The daughter has prayed the prayer but the mother had not. Next, Satan comes out of hell and drags the mom away from the daughter. What?!
3. A girl is in the process of committing suicide. Behind her, Satan is pacing back and forth excited about what he sees. Behind Satan stands Jesus, hopeless and unable to help her. Poor Jesus is no competition for Satan. Or, as I recall, "greater is He (Jesus) that is in you than he (Satan) that is in the world." Does not Jesus exercise authority over Satan and demons at every occurrence in the Scriptures?
4. It is explicitly taught in this production that one's name is not written in the book of life until they pray "the prayer."
5. When a family dies in a car wreck and is reunited with their other daughter who had gone on before them, they simply walk right past Jesus, not even recognizing His presence. This may be a small point for some but it is misleading at best. It definitely minimizes Christ. I believe I will fall on my face when Jesus is before me, regardless of who else I see in that glorious place.
6. My next point has to do with the invitation. This was a classical example of emotionalism and manipulation. With all heads bowed and eyes closed four, maybe five hands are in the air. For every hand we heard about five, "thank yous." With a few hands up we are told that hands are up all over this place. This is called, "Everybody is doing it. Don't be scared or embarrassed."
Also, we are encouraged not to move around too much as we might effect someone's decision. To use a bit of sarcasm, I suppose a possible scene would be a friend who is headed to hell crying to a believing friend, "I almost prayed the prayer, why did you have to go to the restroom. Now I'm going to hell because you couldn't control your bladder."
According to this production, God is not sovereign. Believer, be comforted. Paul says, "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." We don't have to worry about spending a few moments in purgatory watching our loved ones being drug into hell.
To end the evening with a nice ecumenical seal, those who have prayed "the prayer" are encouraged to go back and speak to their pastor or their priest and get involved.
The gospel is adequate for salvation. The true gospel.
There is a holy God. He created you and me in His image. We fell into sin and now every person born is born into sin. This holy God has a perfect law. We are all guilty of breaking it. We all deserve His just and righteous wrath. For this reason, God sent himself in the form of His Son; the God-man, Jesus. Jesus lived a perfect life without sin. He obeyed the perfect law perfectly. He was innocent; guiltless. He was then crucified. He was accursed. He died a sinner's death. He was the perfect sacrifice; the only acceptable payment or appeasement for the sin of man. All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. The Lord reveals Himself to those whom He chooses. The Holy Spirit convicts the child of God of their sin according t0 the Word of God. The true child of God then repents of that sin and surrenders his whole life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. This Christian will suffer trials and tribulation. If a Christian is living in this world according to their heavenly citizenship, they will be persecuted for their faith. This is the will of God. Jesus did not come for us to be happy and have our best life now. He came that we would be righteous. We have none (righteousness) of our own. He imputed His to us (the children of God). Oh what manner of love the Father has lavished upon us that we should be called the children of God. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any created thing shall be able to separate me form the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Just a final note. I appreciate our brothers and sisters for their love for the lost. They have put many of us to shame in their efforts. I do not doubt their love for the Lord. I simply plea that we not think the sovereign Lord of the universe who holds all things together needs us to use our craftiness to accomplish His work.
In His Grace, Robert

Follow-up

Allow me to follow up on my previous post. I pray it did not come across arrogantly. I will say, I do hate divorce. My life has been torn up because of it. I bring that presupposition into my study, I know. Although it may not appear so from the post, I would not go to the firing wall for my position. This is my position thus far. It appears to make sense from the Scriptures. It appears to be consistent with God's character. I continue to search this topic out. The bottom line for my family is that divorce is not an option. By God's grace I will hold true to this declaration. Please read the posts on two of my brothers' blogs here and here. I share their heart.
In His Faithful Grip,
Robert

I Hate Divorce! Did God Really Say...?

(I reserve the right to sway from my Galatians series at any time)

Is divorce permissible at all? Some say under two circumstances it is. I disagree. After a discussion at church I have been asked to place my position on my blog. So here it is.

The idea of divorce begins, of course in the Old Testament. Deu 22:19 is the first time we see the English word divorce in the Old Testament. Here God sets the tone for disliking divorce. He says the man, even in strong disagreeing circumstances, cannot divorce the wife all his days. Then there is the popular Jer 3:8 where God says He has given Israel a writ of divorce. Even more He says it is because of her many adulteries. What is often over looked though is that in that same chapter God is calling for Israel to return to Him and we know that eventually Israel does return. Divorce is not used with the sense of permanence as we use it today. God is a covenant-keeping God. Of course this paper would not be complete without mentioning the ever so famous Malachi 2:16, “‘For I hate divorce,’ says the LORD, the God of Israel.” No where in Scripture do we see God saying that He has changed His mind about this.
In the New Testament we find seemingly clear instructions on divorce. The pharisees, in Mat 19:3, have done us the favor of asking Jesus, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause at all?" Jesus answers by repeating Scripture and telling of creation and the beginning of marriage. The couple becomes one flesh and “what God has joined together, let man not separate." This response does not seem to make room for divorce for any reason. After all, how is it possible to saw a person (ONE FLESH) in half and them live? But why did Moses command the man to give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away? Jesus, once again, supplies us with this answer as well, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery." I think there are a few important points here. First, the text says Moses permitted, not God permitted. Moses is not God. Our sovereign Lord does not necessarily approve of everything he allows to take place. Second, read my point below about the betrothal. Third, Jesus said it was not that way from the beginning. This is not how God intended it. Marriage was not designed with divorce. It was created to demonstrate Christ and the Church. Remember when Christ talked about divorcing the Church. Oh yeah, He didn’t! Marriage was created perfectly as was the earth. Like the earth, marriage has been negatively affected by the fall. At the outset it appears these two passages contradict one another. First Jesus says marriage is a done deal and then he says it’s O.K. to end the marriage for certain reasons. I will show later how this is not a contradiction.
This takes us to the scapegoat of choice. The idea that divorce is justified by adultery has taken over. Here is an easy way out of working on your marriage, one of you have an affair! That is not even what Jesus said in Matthew! Let’s look closely at the two passages used, Mat 5:32
and Mat 19:9. It is important to look at the vocabulary used. The two words used as exceptions are unchastity and immorality. They are the same word in the Greek, porneia. The word actually means fornication which is different from adultery. This will become important when we look at the culture of the context. The text says if divorce happens for this reason, fornication, it will cause the individuals to commit adultery, moicheuw in the Greek. First I will explain the difference between the two words and then we will examine who is being spoken to in these passages. Fornication is sexual intercourse between a man and woman who are not married. Adultery is sexual intercourse between a man and a woman who is not his wife or a woman and a man who is not her husband. Please read the previous two sentences once more, slowly. Some say the word porneia is broad and includes adultery. If this is the case, why is the specific word for adultery used six words later?
It is very significant that both of these passages, the only ones in the NT giving this exception, occur in Matthew. It is well known that Matthew was written to a Jewish audience. In that culture the married couple went through a betrothal period of their relationship. Although they were referred to as husband and wife during this time, the marriage had not yet been consummated. It is at consummation that two become one flesh. The vocabulary of the passage suggests it was this betrothal period of the marriage Jesus was speaking of. Although there are vast cultural differences, one might compare this to our engagement. An example from scripture would be that of Joseph and Mary. The same Greek word used for divorce in these passages is the same one used in Mat. 1:19. Here it is very clear that Mary and Joseph were simply betrothed and yet he was going to “divorce” her when he found her to be with child. Though he did not, this would have been the acceptable time to do so for they were not yet “married.” And now my point about the certificate from Moses above. The Deuteronomy passage does not necessarily speak of something other than the betrothal period of marriage. The passage about the certificate of divorce is found in Deut. 24:1-4. But look with me at Deut. 22:23-24. Here we see the virgin girl who is engaged is referred to as "the neighbor's wife." Can you say betrothal? Deut. 24 seems to be speaking of the first period of the marriage relationship, does it not?
In light of this discussion, it is clear that Jesus was, in fact, not contradicting Himself in the passages mentioned earlier.
But what about 1 Corinthians 7? What about it? Show me in that passage where it says believers may get divorced. Paul reaffirms in verses 10 &11 that the wife should not leave the husband and the husband should not send his wife away. It says in verse 15 of the same chapter, “if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave.” I do not see Paul giving permission for a believer to pursue a divorce.
Finally, some food for thought:

1. Of all the sin mentioned in the Bible, divorce, which God says he hates, is the one sin we may commit under two circumstances? WOW! That’s rich!

2. Is adultery now the unpardonable sin? Oh Robert, of course we should forgive it but it does give us an excuse to commit another sin, divorce. Oh really. Is that what the LORD teaches us with Israel? Remember Hosea?

My Study in Galatians

For a period of time you will find my notes from my study in the book of Galatians. I have decided to use my blog for study accountability. So, it is here I will post my study notes. Please do not print them and spend too much time with them because you may hear them in a sermon sometime. I will simply end at the end of my study session whether my time is up or I am interrupted and pick up where I left off. I hope that you, the reader, will be encouraged and exhorted. Praise God we have this privilege. I welcome your comments and questions.

And now…


Paul’s Letter to the Galatians.

Galatians 1:1
Paul was obviously not present with Jesus during Jesus’ earthly ministry. During Paul’s time it was well understood that the qualification for being an apostle was that one was with the Lord. For this reason some accused Paul of not being an apostle. Therefore time and time again, Paul reminds us that the Lord appeared to him (1 Cor 9:1, 1 Cor 15:8) and that his apostleship was from the Lord. Unfortunately, they could not turn to Acts 9:15 and 13:2. His apostleship did not come through the authority or direction of any man or group of men but it came from God. So Paul proceeds in his opening greetings to the churches to identify himself as an apostle and servant of Christ Jesus.

1:2
On his first missionary journey, Paul planted four churches in the province of Galatia. It is my assumption these are the churches he is writing to (1:2). These churches are Antioch (Acts 13:14), Iconium (Acts 14:1), Lystra (Acts 14:6, 8&9), and Derbe (Acts 14: 20-21).
Lord willing, I will pick up tomorrow.

Polytics?

Poly means more than one. Over time church after church after church has split over, sometimes, trivial issues. I will pick on just us Baptists for now. We now have a group of denominations which could be called polybaptists. Some of the issues that have split us were necessary, like God's sovereignty and the doctrines of grace. Others were not so necessary. As I tread into to the latest controversy in the blogosphere, I 'm afraid I am witnessing perhaps the newest division of the polybaptists. It really is sad. This issue of politics; I now call it polytics. I am not in opposition to mature brothers debating any issue. I am in oppostion when it leads to character bashing.
It seems to me, if Christians would simply live their lives as living sacrifices, allowing one another to obey their consciences in obvious areas of liberty, we could blog about the wonderful things the Lord is doing instead of bashing one another for doing things we disagree with. Perhaps I am oversimplifying the issue. I do tend to be a Simpleton. Our church had a wonderful opportunity to worship with a dear brother in the Lord and now we our putting out the fires it caused. Why? Polytics. One brother disagrees with the level his other brothers are involved. He feels they should be more involved with the gospel. The result, he has forsaken the gospel in order to rebuke those he disagrees with. Am I the only one puzzled here? If your conscience does not allow you to get involved, don't. If it does, do everything you find your hands doing with diligence as unto the Lord. But for crying out loud, do not forget to love one another. You could have all the wisdom in the world and be slicker than Slick Willy, but if you have not love you are but a clanging cymbol.
Should Christians be involved at any level in politics? Absolutely. To what level? The Bible does not say. Do not forsake the gospel. I think we all agree there. Let us be about the work the Lord has given us and not worry about being each others consciences is such matters.
Thank you to those who are trying to better the environment we have to live in. Remember our true citiznship is in Heaven. We share that. We all (believers in Christ alone for salvation) represent the same homeland. Let's start acting like it. Let us not now allow polytics to divide us.
This is my humble, perhaps simple, opinion.

Revival Anyone?

The longer I remain in fulltime ministry, the more I see my own sin. As I am continually confronted with the problems of God's children, I see that I share in their misery. Perhaps, at times, mine is a little more dressed up than theirs, but it is there nonetheless. At the beginning of this year I was challenged by the beloved Jonathan Edwards:

8. Resolved, to act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others; and to let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God.
- Jonathan Edwards' Resolutions; And Advice to Young Converts pg.18

As we exhort and challenge one another in the things of God, let us never forget that the beginning of understanding any biblical doctrine is to understand our own sin. It is then and only then that we will see scripture properly in the light of His grace. When we understand our own sinfullness, His sovereignty is a "duh."

If we, as the body of Christ, would grasp the concept of how sinful we are, we would focus less on the sin of others, more on the holiness and grace of God and we would see world-wide revival.

Blog Clog.

Do I have much to offer? Like my brother Russ, I'm afraid not. In fact, I only created this blog to be able to comment on Russ'! As the world of blogging grows, many blogs are just clogging the line. If I were to put much here, I would be a contributer to the Blog Clog! Therefore, I will keep it short. As the Lord teaches, I may from time to time journal the lessons. But rest assured, I will not blog just to blog.
Thanks for listening.