a firm foundation

It’s important as Christians that we know what we believe. Too often, there is this idea that we don’t really need to worry too much about Biblical doctrine, we just need to have faith. But the foundation of Christianity is not just the power of our faith. In other words, we are not to have faith in simply faith, but we have faith in the promises of God. Faith is not some monkey wrench by which we can manipulate God to get what we want to get from Him. Faith is only valuable as it relates to the promises of God. And the promises of God are our doctrine – the foundation of our faith. We don’t have faith in just any whim of our minds or any whim of doctrine, but we have faith that God keeps His word. God’s word says He has made a covenant with us. A covenant is a legally binding document containing promises and provisions for a transaction. And we can have faith in God’s covenant, because He keeps His word. Therefore, it behooves us to know what is in that covenant. You wouldn’t buy a house or a car or a business without knowing the conditions and the promises contained in that covenant, would you? How much less should we stake our eternal destiny on anything but the truth.

Eph 4:13 says, “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.”

Paul is saying, in plain language, that Christians need to grow up. And I think it’s even more true today. For all the advantages of the modern church, we are basically infantile. Our faith is superficial. We don’t really know what we believe or why. And what we do believe too often is based on our own experience or someone else’s, and has no biblical basis. Christianity is not some spiritually sanitized version of the power of positive thinking, but it is the firm conviction of our faith in the truth of the promises that God has given us.

Hebrews 8:6 “But now He [Jesus] has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.” We have a new covenant, a better covenant, because we have a better mediator, and we have better promises. And this time, God says He will write His laws upon our hearts, not upon tablets of stone. He doesn’t take away the law, but He gives us a way of meeting His standard of righteousness, by changing us on the inside and giving us the Holy Spirit to live within us, to enable us to do His will.

the power of weakness

Maybe I could have titled this message, “the anti-prosperity gospel”. Because the real gospel is contrary to the popular theology that claims that being a Christian excludes you from trials, sickness, poor finances, family troubles and all the rest. I'm sure you've all heard that false gospel hawked by television peddlers who claim that if you just believe enough all your wildest dreams will come true. They profess the kind of religion that thinks that the unsaved will be drawn to God by the gilt and gold of successful Christians living the American dream.

Because that is exactly what it is; the American dream. It’s not the reality of Christians living in China, or the Middle East, or most of the rest of the world. They wouldn’t recognize this prosperity, health, wealth and happiness gospel that guarantees an American version of upper middle class to all who believe. And it certainly wasn’t the gospel of the Apostles either. Perhaps these modern peddlers think God is just partial to Americans.

The truth of the gospel actually tells us that trials and tribulations are an important, if not essential element in our sanctification process. Just as we are utterly unable to enter into the Kingdom by any righteousness of our own, but by the grace of God have been granted Christ’s righteousness in exchange for our sins, so is our sanctification process founded on the same principles. As we are being formed in the image of Christ, it is necessary for God to use trials, weaknesses, tribulations, sorrows, health issues, etc, to take us out of the process and allow the Holy Spirit to do that which is necessary to bring glory to God.

2 Corinthians 4:7 says, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” What that means is that you and I are just clay pots. Not shiny, gilt edged gold pots. No, what is special about you and I is not what is on the outside, but what is on the inside. The only value in us is in our content, not our ornament.

That’s why 2Cor. 3:5 says, “Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God.” So, it is possible that what I consider to be weakness in myself or my circumstances is actually key to my usefulness in the Kingdom.

Paul is a great illustration of that principle. He was a man of great learning. He had climbed the ladder of success in Judaism. He had been saved by a direct appearance of Christ. And to top it all off, he had been taken up into the third heaven and heard and seen things that he wasn’t even able to talk about. He had reason to boast. So God gave him a thorn in the flesh. Something to keep him humble, or else he would not have been useful to the Kingdom. He would probably have been insufferable like so many of us are when our pride has reason to boast.

2Cor. 12:7 “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

What weakness do you have that you are dealing with today? I’m not talking about sin. I’m talking about some burden you bear that you are struggling with God to remove from your life. But it could be that thing you’re asking God to take away is the very thing that enables Him to be able to use you. Our weakness can release the power of God. Sometimes, for our good, God gives us thorns.

the destruction of fortresses

This week we have been doing the Jericho March, a walk around Bethany for 6 days in which we pray for the fortresses of Satan to be overthrown in our community. Every year we do this in anticipation of this season when we move out on the beach and begin our worship services there on Sundays. We don’t think that there is some magical formula in circling the city for six days, but rather we think that it is so important that we begin this endeavor in earnest, concentrated, strategic prayer, because it is God who must do the real work in people’s hearts.

I am reminded of 2 Corinthians 10:3 which speaks to this: “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.” And this thought is continued in Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Vs. 18, “With all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.”

Scripture shows us repeatedly that God loves to do great things by just a few people, as it says in 1Corinthians 1:27 “but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.”

Naaman, the renowned Syrian general, almost missed out on the great healing of God of his leprosy, because he felt like the simple word of God was beneath his dignity. He derided the prophet who instructed him to wash 7 times in the Jordan, because certainly there were nice rivers at home to wash in. He didn’t need to get in the dirty old Jordan. But his servants said to him, “if God had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? Then why not do this simple thing, ‘wash and be clean’?”

I like the simple faith of Jonathan, King Saul’s son. He and his armor bearer got separated from the rest of the Israeli army in a great battle against Midian. And as they were wandering around they came upon the garrison of the Midianites. And Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come, and let us cross over to the garrison of the uncircumcised; perhaps the LORD will work for us, for the LORD is not restrained to save by many or by few.” 1 Samuel 14:6. So Jonathan rushed upon this great multitude of enemy soldiers all by himself and slew 20 men in about a 50 yard stretch of ground, and God caused a trembling in the camp, then in the field and among all the people, and there was a great earthquake and God caused a great victory through the faith of Jonathan.

We have two more nights of the Jericho March, Friday and Saturday at 7pm in the parking lot at Ocean View Parkway. And then we will begin the first of our beach services on Sunday at 8am at Ocean View Parkway on the beach. We look forward to being part of a great work of the Lord this season. We invite you to join us.

a couple of important announcements

It’s an exciting time of year here at The Beach Fellowship. We are planning on moving our Sunday services to the beach again starting June 5 for what will be our fifth year! As we prepare for this transition, there are few things that we would like to make sure everyone is aware of, and has a chance to participate in.

As we have done every year, prior to going out on the beach we will be holding our annual Jericho March starting Monday evening, May 30th at 7pm. We will meet every night that week at the parking lot on Ocean View Parkway where we have our services and begin with group prayer, then pray silently as we walk around the city. We pray that God will cause the walls to come down spiritually in our community, that we can experience the freedom to proclaim the gospel in the strength that God provides as we begin our beach services. The seventh day will be our first Sunday morning service which begins at 8am. We hope that you will join us for the Jericho March every night that you can, and if you’re out of town you can still participate in spirit with us each evening.

Also, we are asking you to pray about another event we are calling “sponsor a sign”. As you may know, we utilize yard sale type of signs to get the message out about our Sunday services. In the past we have had only as many as 4 or 5 out there, and yet have seen God really multiply their effectiveness. This year we are hoping to get as many as 12 signs out in our community. And to do that we are asking for people to sponsor a sign, either by donating $25 for the cost of a sign, or by offering a location to place a sign. In spite of the growth we have seen each year, there are potentially many thousands of people that never hear about our services and as a result, may never hear the gospel fully presented in truth.

God has already been working in exciting ways during this “off season” in our church, and we look forward to sharing with you many more things that will be upcoming as we go into the summer. I would also appreciate your prayers for the next few days as I attend the East Coast Pastor’s Conference with a couple of men from our church. It’s an important time for me to get my spiritual tank refilled and I’m really looking forward to it. Thank you for working together with us in this ministry.

2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

the God of restoration

There was a full moon lighting up the city of Jerusalem, where thousands upon thousands of people had swarmed into town to celebrate the Passover. It’s almost midnight, as Jesus and his 11 disciples head behind the temple mount and down into a ravine where the brook Kidron flows red with the blood of tens of thousands of lambs that were slain for the Passover meal which ran out the back of the temple into the brook beneath. And Jesus and the disciples step through this blood filled stream and start climbing the Mount of Olives to go to a place in the Garden of Gethsemane that they must have used on a regular basis to spend the night.

And as they are going, maybe there is some discussion among them as to where Judas was and what he was doing. Perhaps speculation that he had deserted Jesus. But somewhere en route up the mountain in the middle of the night, they stop for a moment to catch their breath. And there in the moonlight, Jesus has the following conversation with them.

Matthew 26:31 Then Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP OF THE FLOCK SHALL BE SCATTERED. But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee. But Peter said to Him, Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away. Jesus said to him, Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times. Peter said to Him, Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You. All the disciples said the same thing too.”

You see, they all affirmed what we would like to be able to affirm. But they were affirming it based on their own sense of strength, their own sense of commitment. They thought their love for Christ was greater than it was. They thought their spiritual strength was greater than it was. They thought their ability to handle Satan was greater than it was. They were leaning on their own understanding, in the terms of Proverbs 3: 5 And when it came time to take that stand when Christ was taken captive in the garden, "Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled."

But Jesus is using this situation to teach them and to teach us as well, that we are inadequate in and of ourselves to stay committed to God by virtue of our human strength, or to understand completely in our own minds the nature of spiritual warfare. And sometimes it may be easier to vow allegiance to God, even to proclaim a willingness to die for Christ in a time when there is no conflict, but when the battle isn’t waged on a battlefield but in the office, or out with the boys, or at school, then often we find ourselves retreating without a hand being lifted against us.

But In spite of everything they did to desert the Lord, in spite of all the cursing and the swearing and the denial and the fleeing and the forsaking and all of that, He was loving, He was merciful, He was restoring. And here we see the absolute classic illustration of mercy. They aren't worthy of anything but He says I'll be back for you. He says in spite of the fact that you will fall away tonight, I'll collect you and lead you to Galilee. And that is exactly what He did. After His resurrection, He went out of His way to restore Peter, and doubting Thomas and all the others. He got everybody back on board, ascended into heaven, sent the Holy Spirit and sent them out to change the world.

Now what does that say to you and me? It says God is in the business of picking up disciples who have deserted, who have fallen away and restoring them. We can take comfort in the fact that we may forsake Him, but He will never under any conditions forsake us. Listen, like he did with Peter that night, Satan is desiring to sift you like wheat today, especially if you’re trying to live for the Lord. You can’t stand without Jesus Christ. If you do try to stand in your own strength, then you’re going to fall. But Jesus is always there to restore you and pick you up again.

“I will never leave you or forsake you.” Heb. 14:5

the fellowship of His sufferings

What makes a church a church? The preaching of God’s Word is certainly the foundation of a good church. It is the power of God unto salvation. And the Bible says by the foolishness of preaching that men are saved. But just preaching alone is simply evangelism. And a church is more than just evangelism. It must also be fellowship.

The Greek word for fellowship is koinonia, which means sharing, communion, association and intimacy. So by the Biblical definition, the church is not defined by a building, or programs, or whether there is all the usual trappings of religion. The church is the body of Christ that is bound together by a sense of fellowship, or sharing in the lives of one another.

Paul used a phrase in Philippians 3:10 from which we can glean even more insight into this idea of what fellowship is about; “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings”. Now this certainly refers to our conformity to the death of Christ by dying to our flesh and the world. We may suffer some of the same things that Christ suffered, like loneliness, or abandonment or rejection, and we can have fellowship with Him through knowing that He also suffered those things and through His comfort. But I also believe that it speaks of a fellowship with the body of Christ, the church, as we suffer also with one another.

So how do we have fellowship with Christ’s sufferings? We can have fellowship with His sufferings by reaching out to other members of His body who are suffering. We are all members of the body of Christ.

1Corinthians 12:26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” So our spiritual gifts are given to minister service to the members of His body. And suffering is something that all Christians will share in, sooner or later. In fact, your suffering should equip you to sympathize with those other members who are suffering. Before you suffered, other’s suffering may not have seemed so significant. But as you suffer, it prepares you for being able to help others.

God comforts people with people. Even Paul needed human companionship. Even preachers and teachers can get despondent. Paul said in 2 Corinthians that he was comforted by the coming of Titus. We all need human encouragement.

As Paul finished up the first letter to the Corinthians in chapter 16, he said, “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” Kissing may have been a cultural thing in those days, but as I was thinking about it, I realized that there may be something about kissing that should still be relevant to our church today. We need to be intimate with one another. We need to touch one another. You know, Jesus could heal with just a word. But very often, Jesus also healed with a touch. As people in the body of Christ, we often need a human touch. That willingness to get involved in one another’s lives in a physical, practical way is what is so often missing in our churches today. But when we are conformed to the image of Christ, and participate in the fellowship of His suffering, we should be found ministering to the needs of the body - the sufferings of His body - His church.

act like a man

Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 1 Cor. 16:13

Maybe you can chalk it up to the after effects of 40 years of social revolution. But the traditional role of the American male has been under assault since the hippy movement. Somewhere along the line, it seems that he became the fall guy for every ill of society. And while I don’t defend plenty of examples of wrong behavior or attitudes of men throughout history, I think societies emasculation of the traditional American male has had a negative backlash on our culture.

Today there is a great need in society for men to take hold of their God given responsibilities and start living up to the standard of our forefathers. And also there is a tremendous need in the church today for men to stand up and start acting like men. Paul in writing to the Corinthians said “act like men”, or I like the old English version, “quit you like men.”

Whether or not we want to accept it in our politically correct churches today, God gave the responsibility of church leadership to men. 1Timothy 2:12 says, “But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.” (Don’t get mad at me, God said it.)

And in the family God also gave responsibility for the leadership role to the man. Ephesians 5:22 says, “Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.”

I believe that if men were to take responsibility for the roles that God has placed in them, then not only would society be a whole lot better off today, but the church would as well. Paul obviously felt the same way. “Start acting like men”, is what he was saying through the Holy Spirit.

By the way, in spite of what some politically correct pastors have been saying lately, God is a HE, not a she. Jesus was and is a man, and “And He [Jesus] is the radiance of His [God's] glory and the exact representation of His [God's] nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power." Heb. 1:3

There is a tremendous need today for men to take the spiritual leadership role in their marriage, in the raising of their families, and in the church. “Be on the alert” means be watchful of the devil’s schemes to undermine God’s word, authority and plan. “Stand fast (firm) in the faith” means don’t be moved by every wind and wave of doctrine or whim of the culture – grab hold of the truth and stand firm! And finally, “Be strong.” Exercise your leadership and grow in the role that God has given you. Be mature. Don’t be weak in the flesh. Grow up and act like a man.

And no, that doesn’t give a man the right to lord it over everyone, but to serve them as Christ served the church, laying down His glory, His rights, His privilege to serve us.

intelligence vs. inspiration

Have you ever splurged and bought a real expensive item of clothing from some exclusive boutique? Isn’t it amazing how wearing this luxuriant suit or dress can make you feel? You feel sophisticated, confident, successful, all due to wearing this article of clothing. But the truth is, nothing has really changed. You may look cool and ultra hip on the outside, but underneath is the same old person.

There is a new type of church that is growing in popularity in the past few years in the evangelical community that reminds me that Satan repackages the same old lies in new suits down through the ages. This movement is called the New Emergent Church and it has the appeal of being more intelligent, sophisticated and cool than many of it’s more mainline counterparts. Many of the key leaders of this movement are very articulate, sophisticated people that have a lot of charisma and are talented speakers and writers. But while their look and their style may be appealing, there is a disturbing theology that is cloaked under the hip exterior.

For instance, one of it’s foremost leaders, Brian McLaren, said, “All of our attempts to define the right form of the Gospel are just human interpretations” and he insists, “we must avoid ‘excessive confidence’ in any telling of the Gospel story.” Rob Bell, author of “Love Wins”, creator of the Nooma films and pastor of Mars Hill Church, in an interview with the Newsweek religion editor, said when asked if an atheist who did good deeds while living but remained an atheist would enter heaven upon death, answered in a circulatory fashion that left the door wide open for the possibility for everyone to enter into heaven. He basically said that the gospel story has so many seemingly open ended statements that one could not be dogmatic about what requirements were necessary for salvation. In his mind, Christ was more concerned about renewing this earth, and bringing heaven to earth. In Rob Bell and Brian McLaren’s theological world, the conversation is more important than the answers.

While the Bible does tell us to “let us reason together”, we cannot simply trust our intelligence and our view of what is appropriate or right or just to determine our salvation. Salvation comes through faith. And “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” Rom. 10:17 It take faith to believe that a God who could make all of creation in six days by the power of His word, could also protect and preserve His written word for two or three thousand years.

2Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;”. By faith, we accept that the Bible is the inspired word of God, that we can trust it, rely upon it and even stake our eternal destiny on it. But we can’t trust in our intelligence to tell us about God. One phrase that was heard repeatedly throughout Bell’s interview was, “I think, I think, I think…” What we may think and reason about who God is or what he should be like is hardly relevant. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord,” as the prophet Isaiah declared. [Isaiah 55:8]

In Matthew 25, Jesus tells the parable about ten virgins who went out to meet the bridegroom. And five were foolish and five were prudent. The foolish had their lamps, but no oil. The lamp is a picture of the church and oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit throughout the scriptures. So the foolish virgins are a picture of those churches that may be intellectually religious, but lack the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit to teach us and guide us in studying the Word, we cannot know the truth about God through mere intelligence, but only by inspiration. As it says in 1Corinthians 2:13 “which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.”

d-d-dealing with the d-d-devil

2Cr 2:11"So that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes."

The Bible warns that at the end of the age, the devil will increase his efforts to overthrow the church, using every means he has at his disposal. “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.” Matt. 24:24 “Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.” Rev. 12:12

"And because lawlessness will increase, most people’s love will grow cold." Matt. 24:13 When Jesus addressed the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2, He says “I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” They became infatuated with the world, loving the things of the world, and forsaking their FIRST love.

Today in the church, it would almost seem as if the devil is winning the battle. Oh, he has ultimately lost the war, no question about that, but in this day and age, it seems as if Christians are falling away on the right hand and the left.

There are three major ways that the devil is working today to attack the church. And his schemes are not new, he’s been perfecting them since the beginning of time.

Number one: The devil destroys. The Bible says that the consequences of sin is death. Satan is working to destroy lives through addictions like drugs and alcohol, fornication, and every other type of sin that he knows has terrible consequences, in order to trap people in a vice that will lead to their death. 1Pe 5:8 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

Number two: The devil deceives. Satan is a deceiver. He is a liar, and the father of lies. Mat 24:11 "Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.” He offers “a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. “ Prov. 14:12 You can’t trust your own wisdom. “Lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.” Prov. 3:6

Number three: The devil distracts. With Christians, this may be the most effective strategy of Satan against the church. They may not fall for an obvious temptation like adultery or drunkenness, but they don’t recognize the ploy of the devil to distract them from the task that God has called them to do. They think it just circumstances that compel them to make this choice, or even more dangerous, they think it God’s will. More Christians have turned aside to go down the wrong path because of misinterpreting Satan’s distraction for God’s will, when in fact, Satan has cleverly appealed to their pride. Gal 3:1 “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?” Gal 3:3 “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” Beware of that which appeals to the flesh. 1Jo 2:16 “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.”

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be STEADFAST, IMMOVEABLE, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” I Cor. 15:58

The days of Noah

As an antique dealer for many years, I had the opportunity to meet a lot of characters. And in that world of parking lot deals, or going to people’s houses to buy stuff, and all the cash transactions that used to take place, I met a lot of sketchy people. One guy that actually ended up being a friend was connected to the Mafia at one time. But there was another guy, an old man that lived in Winchester, Virginia that sold me a fake piece at the very beginning of my career. And over the years, I got to know him pretty well. Once in a great while, I got something decent from him. But most of the time, he would call me up and talk me into driving 3 hours one way to go see him so he could show me this “special” piece that he thought he had. He never seemed to tire of trying to put one over on me. Nice old guy, but a genuine crook. As the years went on, Kenny got more and more frail. And I was always amazed that here was this old guy at the end of his life that was using the little bit of time he had left to try to pull one more scam on me. I haven’t heard from him now in several years and I assume that he died. But for a while there he would periodically call me, too weak to even drive anymore, but still wanting me to come down there and visit him, saying that he had something really “special” to show me.

Sadly, I see people doing the same thing today, living as if they have all the time in the world. Just this last Friday morning the largest earthquake to ever hit Japan caused a devastating tsunami. I’m sure you watched it on the news and witnessing that wall of water traveling across the landscape pushing houses and cars and all kinds of debris was just amazing. The week or so before, New Zealand suffered a major earthquake with many dead and massive injuries to both people and infrastructure. A few weeks before that, Queensland in Australia suffered catastrophic flooding on an epic scale unlike anything they’ve ever experienced. And in the Middle East, within the last couple of weeks, dictatorships that have lasted 30 years are suddenly toppling like dominos, and unrest is spreading across the world. Gas prices are going crazy as a result and the next fear is that food prices are going to skyrocket. All this on top of the worst recession that this country has experienced in almost a hundred years.

And yet, for most of us, we go on about our daily business as if nothing is really going on and we’re not really experiencing the last days. For a large portion of the population, they are continuing to try to do just one more deal, or maybe just another weekend of hitting the bars, or perhaps just another hit on a bong or another pill or line that will numb them to the reality that things are coming to a head. I’m convinced, more than ever, that the coming of the Lord is at hand. How much longer I don’t know, but one thing I do know, I want to be found faithful at his appearing. I want to spend whatever time I have left in service to the Lord. The Lord is coming soon and we will see Him in His glory. For some that will be a great day. For others, it will be a time of mourning.

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days which were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.” Matthew 24:36-39

**Please note that Daylight savings time begins Sunday morning. Our normally early 8:00am service will seem even earlier. Please remember to spring forward.

imagine there's no heaven

John Lennon wrote a song that proposed the idea, “imagine there’s no heaven, it’s easy if you try, no hell below us, above us only sky…” The song goes on to imply that the absence of religion and the associated consequences of our faith here on earth would result in world peace. Though many a war may been started by invoking God’s name, the truth is that genuine Christianity is the only thing that is keeping the world from erupting into anarchy and the complete destruction of society.

In Christianity, the resurrection and our hope of heaven is the keystone to our faith. In fact, Romans 10:9 says that believing that Christ was raised from the dead is necessary for salvation. Now if Christ was raised, then Paul says in I Cor. 15 we will be raised as well. Vs. 23 “But each in his own order, Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ at His coming.” In other words, the resurrection of Christ was the deposit of our hope of resurrection. As He was raised, so will we be also.

But the Bible says not everyone will die. “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall all be changed.” I Cor. 15:51,52. I Thessalonians 4:15-17 adds that “we who are alive and remain shall not precede those that have fallen asleep…but the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together… to meet the Lord in the air.”

The disciples asked a question on many of our minds today, as we see the turmoil in the Middle East, and we see the signs of the times. “When will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?” Matt. 24:3 Jesus’ answer is to present a picture of a continuing, escalating time of tribulation, corresponding to both the preaching of the gospel throughout the world and an increase in false prophets and false Christs, who will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead if possible, even the elect. “But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give it’s light, and the stars will fall down from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.” Matt. 24:29-31

Jesus went on to say that no one knows the day or the hour when He is coming. “For this reason, you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.” “Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing [being faithful] when he comes.”

Interestingly, both our Sunday morning study and our Wednesday evening study is focusing right now on the resurrection and prophecy of the end times as we look at Matthew 24 and I Corinthians 15 respectively. We encourage you to come and participate as we look at what the Word of God says concerning these things.

7 characteristics of false prophets

Jesus said in Mat 7:15 "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” And in this statement He paints a picture of people who look like sheep, but are not. Jude says that these people are hidden right in the church, and that they crept in unnoticed. God said through Jeremiah in chapter 14:14 Then the LORD said to me, "The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds.”

And so in Jesus’ last sermon before He was crucified, in Matthew 23, He gives 7 characteristics of false teachers, which was an indictment to the religious leaders of His day and is certainly applicable today as well.

1. They have a false authority; Vs. 1: The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses. They may be self appointed, seminary appointed, or denominationally appointed, but not God appointed.

2. They have a false message. Vs. 2: therefore, all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds, for they say things, and do not do them. A prophet of God should proclaim the Word of God, like Isaiah did, “line upon line, precept upon precept… Is. 28.

3. They impose a false obligation. Vs. 4 And they tie up heavy loads, and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. The more twisted the message, the more burdens they impose.

4. They have a false righteousness. Vs. 5: But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries, and lengthen the tassels of their garments. Jesus later calls them hypocrites; literally meaning actors on a stage. Is that ever true today. Our pulpits have just been reduced to “Christian” entertainment.

5. They wear a false humility. Vs. 6 They love the place of honor at banquets, and the chief seats in the synagogues,

6. They claim a false title. Vs. 7 And respectful greetings in the market places, and being called by men Rabbi, But do not be called Rabbi, for One is your Teacher and you are all brothers,Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called leaders, for One is your leader, that is Christ.

7. They have a false mission. Vs. 11,12. But the greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. Matt. 20:28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." The acid test of a prophet is whether or not they are being served, or serving the body of Christ. Philippians tells us to have the same attitude as Christ, taking the form of a bondservant.

the Word became flesh

It’s pretty much an accepted historical fact that Jesus lived and walked on the earth during the time depicted in the gospels. There is very little dispute even among secular scholars. There is undoubtedly more evidence of Christ living than any other historical figure who ever lived before the age of Columbus. So when someone says that they don’t believe that Jesus lived, they show their ignorance. But on the other hand, if someone simply believes in the existence of Jesus they aren’t exactly making a leap of faith.

The real question is whether or not you believe that Jesus is God. That’s the question that Jesus forced the Pharisees to consider in Matthew 22:42 by asking, “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?” And they said to Him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him Lord, saying, The Lord said to My Lord, sit at My right hand, until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet. If David then calls Him Lord, how is He His son?”

The Pharisees were familiar with the prophecies about the Messiah like 2 Samuel 7:12 and others like it; "When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” And as a result, the Jews believed that the Messiah would come from the seed of David. But unfortunately, their belief that the Messiah that would come from the lineage of David led them to the conclusion that He would be a man, just as his father David was.

So Jesus uses the quote from Psalm 110 to prove that though He would come from the line of David, David himself recognized Him as Lord. Furthermore, He shows that David said that by divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Messiah would be both his descendent as well as divinity.

So the Jews had it straight that the Messiah would come from the lineage of David. And that is why Matthew goes to great lengths to present Jesus Christ's genealogy in chapter 1. Luke in chapter 3 follows the same thing. Luke traces the Davidic line through Mary, Matthew follows it through Joseph and it comes together to indicate that this is indeed a son of David, both his father and mother were in the Davidic family.

But that is only half the answer. The ten million dollar question was did they recognize Him as God. And that is still the question today. Many so called faiths profess to the existence of Jesus. But was He God in the flesh? In Genesis 1, the first three verses testify to the presence of the Father, Spirit and Son. Verse one says, “In the beginning God created…” and we see the Creator, the Father God. In verse 2 we see, “the Spirit of God was moving over the waters…” and then in verse 3 it says, “And God said….” We see the word of God. Flip over to John 1 and you see what that means. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

And then drop down to verse 14 of John and you read, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” He would come into the world by the birth of a virgin, because His Father was God, yet He existed in eternity past as God. And so He was fully God, and fully human. He was the uniquely qualified person capable of taking away the sins of the world. And He was the only one that could be a substitute for the world, because He had made the world.

Believing on Jesus Christ is more than accepting that He lived. It’s believing that Jesus is God. And if you don’t believe that Jesus is God, then it’s not possible to be saved.

the power of God

One of the biggest problems in the world today is that people have too small a view of God. It’s nothing new, of course. The ancient Greek mythology portrayed their gods as just a little bit bigger and more powerful, perhaps, but still basically like the human race, with all the foibles associated with man. In Rome, they considered the Caesars as gods, and were instructed to worship them as such. The same is true of the Egyptians, who worshipped the Pharaohs and built massive pyramids to preserve their embalmed bodies.

Most modern religions have the same limited view of God as well. New Age reasoning, which has it’s roots in Middle Eastern Zen, believe that god is within us, and all we have to do is reach a higher state of consciousness to unleash the god inside us all. The Hindu’s believe that in reincarnation we can continue to come back to life in a more elevated position until we reach god status.

But Jesus, in rebuking the Sadducees, a religious sect of the Jews, made a statement that not only answered their foolishness, but speaks to the core of the problem of people of religion everywhere. In Matthew 22:29 He says, "You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God.” Not understanding the Scriptures is a given, since most people don’t really seem to care about truth as much as what they think. But what I would really like to focus on for a moment though is not understanding the power of God.

Like the Egyptians, or the Greeks, Romans and Sadducees before us, more often than not, we think God is just like us. And Jesus says, you are mistaken. You don’t understand the power of God. We can’t comprehend a God that by the power of simply His Word, hung the Sun in space which is 109 times bigger than our Earth, and lit a fire in it that burns at 5505 degrees Celsius. Or we can’t imagine a God that can create a star called Betelgeuse, that is at least four times bigger than the Earth’s orbit. The earth travels at a forward speed of 69,000 mph and is spinning at over 1000 mph. It takes 365 days, traveling 69,000 mph to orbit our Sun. And Betelgeuse is four times bigger than that orbit. We cannot even imagine a star four times bigger than earths’ orbit, much less imagine the power that it takes to create such a thing by the word of His mouth. We cannot comprehend God. When Jesus said you don’t understand the power of God that is the greatest understatement of all time.

When I hear people say, “I can’t believe in a God that would allow this or that.” Or, I believe that God is like this….” I am reminded of what Jesus said. “You are mistaken. First of all, you don’t understand the Scriptures.” You need to learn what God says about Himself rather than forming your own version of God from your speculation. Secondly, you don’t understand the power of God. And an improper view of God leads to a wrong theology. Too low a view of God produces a shallow Christianity that is more concerned with things of this world than the things to come in the next. And the things of this world, the Bible says, cannot compare with the glory to come.

1Cr 2:9 but just as it is written, "THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM."

Jesse Hines in concert, 2/3/2011

What is love?

When I was a kid I used to try to butter my mother up sometimes, hoping to get her to do something I wanted her to do, by telling her I loved her. Her response would usually be, “Son, love is action! Go clean your room.” It wasn’t that she didn’t love me. She just knew that lip service isn’t really love. It’s just self service.

Right in the middle of Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth there is the greatest section of scripture regarding love found perhaps in the Bible. Oddly enough, it’s sandwiched right between two chapters that are talking about spiritual gifts. But it’s placement is crucial for a proper understanding of spiritual gifts. Because Paul knew that love has to be the motivation behind any manifestation of the spirit through gifts or it is just a bunch of noise designed to attract attention to oneself.

In fact, Paul says that even “though I were to speak with language of men and angels, if I don’t have love I have become a noisy gong or a clanging symbol.” 1 Cor. 13:1. That was referencing someone that banged a gong in a busy street to attract attention to himself. And he goes on to say, “if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.” He uses hyperbole to show extremes of spiritual gifts, exaggerations, in order to make a point. And the point is all of that is just self serving showiness, resulting in a big zero in God’s eyes, unless love is the motivation.

So the logical question then is, what exactly is love? The Greek uses the word agape for love in this passage. Agape is the highest expression of love. It is loving through self sacrifice, giving, serving others, not oneself. You see, God gave the gifts for the building up of the body (1 Cor. 12:7). Love isn’t an emotion, or affection. In fact, Jesus said if we have the kind of love that He has for us, we will even love our enemies. That doesn’t mean that I have to like my enemy, or like what he may be doing, but I can love him, or serve him, by showing him mercy and kindness as God showed me by sending Christ to the world as my sacrifice.

Finally, Paul gives 15 characteristics of love. And like my Momma said, they are all actions. All of them are verbs. Check it out: love is patient, love is kind, isn’t jealous, doesn’t brag and isn’t arrogant. Love doesn’t act unbecomingly, doesn’t seek it’s own, isn’t provoked, doesn’t take into account a wrong, doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. That kind of love is a tall order. It’s impossible in the flesh. And that is why we must walk in the Spirit, using the gifts of the Spirit, which are meant to produce the fruits of the Spirit. And the first of the fruits is love.

By the way, The Beach Fellowship is hosting a mid winter concert with pro surfer/singer/songwriter Jesse Hines and another great musical act Esther Faith, who will be performing on Thursday, February 3 at 6:30pm in Bethany Beach, DE. Show will be at the Christian Conference Center on Pennsylvania Ave. in the octagonal building. Jesse will also show a short video highlighting his pro surfing career and give his testimony. Admission is free. Hope you will make plans to come and bring some friends.

a new year's warning

In Matthew 21:33 Jesus is speaking to the chief priests and the elders of the people in the temple of Jerusalem. He has just cleansed the temple of the vendors and merchants and money changers. And they are asking him by what authority He does these things. So He gives another parable in verse 33 which would have been very familiar to students of the Old Testament as these men were. It was taken from Isaiah 5.

In verse 1 you have a parable regarding the land of Judah in Israel. And God tells through analogy how he planted a vineyard which was Israel and protected and provided for her and nurtured her. How He did everything He could do for her. And as a result of His providence He expected to see Judah produce fruit. But instead, the parable says that Judah produced nothing but worthless sour berries. And so He pronounces a curse upon them and says that He will remove His protection from them and let the animals and the thieves and whatever else may come in and ravage the land.

I cannot help but see the parallels of Judah to the United States today. We too were a nation that benefited from the blessings of God in a very special way. No other nation on earth had the blessings that America has had. No other nation in the world was founded as we are on Christian principles found in God’s word like America was. God used primarily religious persecution to bring a great nation of people together from many foreign countries. And God brought across the sea people from every nation and tongue to become the greatest nation on the face of the earth. This fledgling country with just a ragtag army was set free from the great British empire. From the very beginning it was established in the name of God. There were churches built on every street corner. God’s word is written on our government buildings, its verses were inscribed on our monuments, even our currency stated our trust in God, and for almost 200 years our schools used the Bible as it’s textbook. Our country went on to export Christianity to the world through missionaries to every continent on the globe. Some of the greatest revivals known to man swept across this country, turning men’s hearts to God with great fervor.

Yet as time went on, we like Israel grew complacent, and we grew more and more materialistic. We became consumed with materialism and the passions of the flesh. And little by little America has become a nation that is not defined by their Christian values anymore, but defined by our decadence and rampant consumerism. Even in our churches today, there is no real desire for true righteousness and holiness anymore. The light of the truth, for the most part, has dimmed in most of those churches on every street corner in America today. There is no desire for holiness, but instead the truth of the gospel has been replaced by the prosperity gospel, that teaches that God has granted us His protection and blessing so that we can acquire more and more materialistic things that we might indulge our passions and satisfy the lusts of our flesh. We have found teachers who teach us what we want to hear, or like the Bible says, “tickle our ears.” Our churches are not a place where we go to cry and repent and call out to God for forgiveness of our sins anymore, but instead they have become a mockery of holiness, a similitude of a nightclub or a country club where we celebrate what we think is our preferred status of blessedness, rather than repenting of our harlotry and friendship with the world.

It’s a frightful thing when God takes His hand of protection and blessing off of a nation, or a church, or a person. His providence and protection is designed to enable us to bring forth fruit. But that must begin with fertile ground. The heart broken in repentance produces good ground, fertile ground. Yes, America needs revival. But it must start in the church, and specifically in us.

We have a choice. Mat 21:44 says, "And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust." Jesus is that cornerstone. We either fall on Him in brokenness and repentance, or eventually He says we will be broken and scattered like dust, just like Israel was in 70 AD, in fulfillment of Christ’s prophecy.

new name, new logo, same message

unto us a Son is given

In case you don’t know it, the famous Christmas song Handle’s Messiah written in 1742 takes most of it’s great verses directly from scripture. For instance, you probably will recognize Isaiah 9:6 as it is quoted in the song. “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

For unto us a Child is born. You know, Jesus could have come to earth with ten thousand angels, fully formed as a mature man. But the fact that He chose to come as a baby speaks not only to the humanity of Christ, but also the humility. There is nothing more humble than a baby. Jesus subjected Himself to all that a baby goes through, their utter dependence, for our sake, and also, I believe, as an example of what is required from us that would enter His kingdom.

And the government will be upon His shoulder. Jesus Christ will rule the earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, two other titles that appear many times in scripture.

Jesus is Wonderful. When we really understand who He is and what He has done for us it should fill us with wonder and amazement.

Jesus is our Counselor. Jesus can help you with your problems because He was one of us and went through what we are going through. “Tempted in all points like we are, yet without sin.” (Heb. 4:15)

Jesus is Mighty God. Equal with God in all aspects. Co author of all creation, the Lord who reigns in heaven, able to speak into being all of creation.

Jesus is the Everlasting Father: The idea in these Hebrew words is that Jesus is the source or author of all eternity, that He is the Creator Himself. “All things were made by Him…” (John 1)

Jesus is the Prince of Peace: He is the One who makes peace between God and man. When we were at enmity with God, Jesus became the arbiter of our peace.

Jesus was a common name in the first century for a Jewish male. It was the common Greek version of the Hebrew names Joshua, Jehoshua, and Jeshua. It means "The Lord (Yahweh) saves" or "The Lord "(Yahweh) is my help. He was named before He was born by the angel who was sent to Joseph. “She will bear a son; and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

The word Christ is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word for "Messiah" or "anointed one." Christ was the title given to Jesus. Therefore He was Jesus the Christ—Jesus the Messiah. “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ) (John 1:41).

There is also the title "Lord Jesus Christ." When the word "Lord" is added to Jesus Christ it means, "Yahweh (Jehovah) Jesus the Messiah. " It is speaking of His Deity as God as well as His human name and His title.

There are a number of other names for Jesus as well. The Word. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1)

The Lamb. “Behold the Lamb of God, who comes to take away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) Savior. (Luke 2:11)”For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”

But the name I want to dwell on for a minute is the name Son. In God calling Jesus Son we see evidence of His deity, but there is another aspect that really hit me the other day. The name Son reveals something about God’s love. God loved the Son. I remember when Susie got pregnant with my son and the overwhelming love that I had for that little baby when he was born. The absolute pride and joy that having a son brings to a father is just something that has to be experienced to be understood.

And so we get a glimpse of God’s love for Jesus in the title of Son being given to Jesus. Twice the Bible recounts God’s voice bursting out of heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son!” God had all the love and pride in His Son that we have in our children.

But not only did God love the Son with this great, unfathomable love, but wonder of wonders, He loved us also. John 3:16 says, that “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him shall be saved.” Not only did God love the Son, but He loves us also and wants us to be His sons and daughters. It’s like He came to an orphanage and fell in love with you and said I love you so much I will pay whatever price is necessary to make you my child. And so He goes through all the legalities and requirements to adopt you and then gives you all the privileges of being His child.

Do you ever doubt that God loves you? Well, here is the proof of just how much God loved us when we were orphans and outcasts of heaven. He loved us so much that He watched His own Son be beaten, tortured, crucified and murdered in order that He might be able to adopt us. The price of our redemption was the death and punishment of His Son, and God gladly paid it, because His love for us was so great.

Christmas is a time for gift giving and celebration. But let’s always remember that the thing we are celebrating is that God loved us, choose to make us His sons and daughters, and Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice to purchase us for the Father, so that we might have eternal, abundant, real life with God in heaven.

cleaning house

In Matthew 21, there is the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem riding on the colt of a donkey, being proclaimed by a huge crowd of people, possibly numbering in the many thousands as the Messiah, the son of David. His entourage, however, wasn’t exactly made up of the cream of Israeli society. It was the rabble of Galilee, the downtrodden, past prostitutes, once beggars, people who had been healed from every sort of debilitating disease which had left them lying worthless at some city gate until Jesus had come along. He was attended by the homeless, the destitute, people once afflicted by demons who had now become clean. People who previously had no value to society were the ones whom he chose to attend his coronation.

And there standing on the steps of the temple were the chief priests and scribes, the religious leaders, indignant at the cries of the people. They were the epitome of righteousness and religious fervor. Who was this man that had risen outside of their ranks, without their approval, without attending their school of divinity? They scoffed at Him, His lack of pedigree and the mob of sinners that attended Him.

Jesus was the picture of humility. Riding into town upon this little beast of burden with the rabble throwing old clothes in his path certainly didn’t meet the expectation of the religious leaders that the Messiah would over throw the yoke of bondage of Rome and vanquish the enemies of Israel. No, Jesus was more concerned with religious reform than He was with social reform. He was more concerned about slavery to self and sin than He was worried about physical enslavement to government.

And so Jesus gets off this donkey and walks into the temple and begins to clean house – literally. He kicks over tables and drives out the vendors and the money changers. The Jews had taken what was supposed to be God’s house and made it into a money making business. Jesus said, “It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer but you have made it a robber’s den.”

In just three or four days Jesus would be nailed to a cross. His anger and rebuke was the last warning to a religious system that had run amuck. I can’t help but wonder what Jesus would do if He were to ride up on his donkey to the front door of some churches today. Would He find a house of prayer? It’s noteworthy that Jesus had to remind the religious leaders that “It is written…” Would He find the church studying His word?

1Pe 4:17 says, “For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” Before God sends a revival to the world, He must first have a revival in the church.

Christmas Luau (click on image to enlarge)

who do you say that I am...really?

What do you think God is like… really? Most people seem to have this vague image of a beneficent, benevolent being beaming at the world like a ray of sunshine giving everyone a warm and fuzzy feeling. Others perhaps see some judgmental father figure that condemns them and makes them feel guilty. The truth is though that how we may think about God is irrelevant to the reality of God. In other words, my perception of God does not change who God really is. If He is just a figment of our imagination then it’s fine to have your own view point of what you may think God is like, or what you think He may be capable of. But if He really exists, if He really is the God of the universe, then we better figure out exactly what He is like and what He expects from us.

While the Bible says that the heavens declare the glory of God, and the creation teaches us about God, those are only signposts that point in His direction. They cannot teach us much more than that there has to be a Creator to design all this wonder. But yet we know that man has for years strived to find a way of reasoning to circumvent that obvious conclusion, and it is in fact being taught today as evolution.

The only real source of truth then about God has to be God’s word. Not man’s speculation, not man’s revelations, nor any other contrivance of man can comprehend God and declare it to man. God chose His word, and wrote it down, by which He would manifest Himself to the world.

John says in chapter one that Jesus was the Word. That the Word was with God and that the Word was God. And that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. When He became 30 years of age He began a three year pilgrimage to teach the world about God and manifest Himself to the world, which culminated in a final march into Jerusalem during the Passover to offer Himself as the sacrificial Lamb who takes away the sin of the world.

But in spite of everything He said about Himself and why He had come to earth and what the purpose of His kingdom would have, people were unable to accept the reality of His mission. They were so focused on what they wanted God to be like that they completely zoned out on the real message. They were looking for a fix for their earthly problems and He looked like He could be the guy to take care of them. But Jesus came to take care of the problem of eternity and the problem of sin. He was focused on the spiritual, and they were focused on the physical.

Unfortunately, not much has changed in the last 2000 years. We’re still focused on the physical. Jesus came to destroy the stranglehold that the ruler of this world had on mankind and to set his captives free, taking them into the kingdom of heaven. But most of us seem to have difficulty abandoning the physical and living in the spiritual. We’re trying to have the best of both kingdoms. But if you’re really a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven then you must concur with the final answer that Jesus gave Pilate just before His crucifixion. “My kingdom is not of this world.”

love story

Mercy is one of the great characteristics of God. Mercy and grace are like twin sisters. Mercy has to do with delivering one from their misery, grace has to do with delivering one from their sin. Sometimes they are independent. Sometimes one is the result of the other. But if grace and mercy are twin sisters, then their mother is Love. Love is supreme over all the spiritual gifts and love is the motive behind mercy and grace. God is a God of love, mercy and grace and no passage in the Bible illustrates it more than the first few chapters of Hosea.
In Hosea chapter one God commands a young preacher named Hosea to get a wife of harlotry, and have children, as an example to the Israelites which had committed flagrant harlotry, forsaking the Lord. So Hosea went and took a wife by the name of Gomer. He loved her very much. Maybe he didn’t understand the harlotry part at the time. I believe the indication in scripture is that she wasn’t a harlot when he married her. We can assume that it was a mutual love, and soon she had a male child. God said name him Jezreel which means “cast away”, and referred to the atrocities of Jezebel and King Ahab. God was prophesying through the name of this child that He is going to put an end to the kingdom of Israel.
After a while, another child. a daughter, was born to Hosea’s wife. This one was named Loruhamah which means “not pitied”. God would no longer have pity or compassion on Israel. And after she had been weaned, she had another child, and it is likely that it was apparent by this time that Gomer had begun to fool around. God said to name this boy Lo Ammi, which means “you are not my people”. She was already being unfaithful to Hosea, and you can only imagine the anguish of knowing his wife was a harlot and knowing that this child wasn’t his.
God had said that he would name these children as a sign to his people, but also foretold a day of restoration: "And I will have pity on Not-Pitied, and I will say to Not-My-People, 'You are my people;' and he shall say, 'Thou art my God.'" So that even in this time when God was announcing judgment his mercy also was being shown.
Soon Gomer’s running around went from adultery to actually leaving Hosea and then moving in with another man. Over time, it seems Gomer was passed around from man to man, moving ever lower on the social ladder until at last she fell into the hands of a man who was unable to even pay for her food and her clothing. As she became more and more degraded in her adultery, she had become less desirable, eventually ending up with the worst sort of man who was unable to even take care of her. But Hosea had never stopped loving Gomer and was always watching to make sure that she was ok. And so Hosea sought out the man one day and gave him money to make sure that his former wife was fed and clothed. Even though he couldn’t be with her, he still loved her and wanted her to be cared for and provided for. But it’s doubtful that the man she was living with gave Hosea any credit for the provisions, because the passage says that she praised the man she was living with for providing her with food and clothing. And that is another picture of God’s mercy towards us, in that even while we were living in adultery away from Him, He continued to provide and watch out for us, even though we praised our idols and the works of our hands for our provision.
Finally though the day came when the man’s lifestyle had indebted him so much - or maybe he felt Gomer wasn’t desirable to him anymore - and so he put her up for auction, to be sold as a slave, which was often done in that day to satisfy a debt. And somehow Hosea found out about it and made his way to the auction. We can imagine Gomer standing there on the auction block, stripped of all her beauty, just a shell of the beautiful woman she had once been. But somehow, Hosea still loved her. The going price for a slave in those days was 30 pieces of silver and Hosea paid 15, plus a homer and a half of barley. She was no longer desirable for anything other than the lowest sort of slave, and yet Hosea still loved her and desired her. He gladly paid the price required and reclaimed her as his own.
Though over 2000 years old, the story of Gomer is my story and your story. We too have played the harlot and gone after our old lovers of the world. We give our love and attention to those things that once enslaved us, spurning the love of God, and end up used and bruised and just about worthless. Yet God never stops loving us, and while we were yet sinners running from Him, sent Jesus to purchase us. He was faithful, even when we were not.

talent vs gifts

In I Corinthians 12 we have been studying the very difficult passage of scripture regarding spiritual gifts. There is no other area of scripture short of eschatology that I believe is more misunderstood than the area of spiritual gifts. And in studying this fact, I think it stems from a basic confusion of talents for spiritual gifts. So many people in the church today are judging things according to the way that they seem from the natural perspective. But the Bible tells us in 1Cr 2:14 that “a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised”.
Furthermore, the Bible says that the things of the flesh and the things of the Spirit are diametrically opposed. Rom. 8:6 “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.” It’s important to understand this: that when you were born in the flesh, you inherited the color of your eyes, and hair and many characteristics of your body and natural abilities from your parents. You undoubtedly have natural talents that you inherited. You may be a great singer, or a superb athlete, and these are natural talents that you were born with. But those are natural talents and the Bible says that they cannot please God. Remember – no one is born a Christian. You were born dead in your trespasses and sin. Spiritually you needed to be reborn. You did not have the natural capacity for being restored to God, so God had to supernaturally indwell you by the Spirit of Christ and cause you to be born again, not of the flesh, but of the Spirit. You now are alive in your spirit because of the indwelling of the Spirit of God.
That’s why Paul says in Gal 3:3 “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” You see, our natural talents and abilities are not necessarily gifts of God. In fact, they may be an impediment to serving God. But God will supernaturally provide each of us with the gifts of the spirit as needed for the building up of the body of Christ. Not for our personal edification, but for service to the body. Consequently, our natural talents and abilities may not be acceptable for God’s purposes. Because in most cases, it is impossible for us to do so without including our pride in it as well. God says He will not share His glory with man.
Martha may have thought she was exercising her spiritual gift of service in her serving Jesus and the disciples. It was what she was good at. She may have been an accomplished cook and was working hard to prepare this meal for Jesus. And yet, Jesus rebuked her for being concerned about earthly things, when the spiritual things of Mary were so much better. Our churches today look oftentimes at the methods, means and talents of the world and try to apply these things to the church. But they are often diametrically opposed. We hire pastors and youth leaders and promote elders in the church the same way we would hire someone for a secular position. We hire professional musicians to entertain in an attempt to draw people to the church. And as a result our church services resemble a night club and we add more and more entertainment features in order to satisfy the desires of the flesh.
In reality, I think God calls us to do the things we are not comfortable doing, that we have no natural ability to do, that doesn’t match our personality assessment worksheet, and yet He promises that He will supply all our needs to accomplish His will according to His riches in glory. In physical weakness, then am I strong by the power of the Spirit. God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the wise. Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. I Cor. 1:31

the first shall be last, and the last first

When the rich young ruler asked Jesus what he needed to do to obtain eternal life, Jesus answered that he was to sell all his possessions, give the money to the poor, and come and follow Him. But the Bible says in Matthew 19 that the young man went away sorrowful, because he had many possessions. He counted the cost and decided it was more than he was willing to pay.
Not long before, Jesus had said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matt. 16:24-26
After the rich young ruler left, Peter, as the spokesman for the twelve, said to Jesus, “What about us? We left everything and followed you.” And the answer Jesus gave him was a promise that in the regeneration they would sit on thrones with Christ. The Jewish world that disdained them and scorned them, would one day be judged by them.
But money or possessions are only a symptom of a greater problem that keeps us from really following God. And that greater problem that all of us are guilty of is pride. It is at the root of every sin. It was the original sin of Satan, (I will be like God), Eve, Cain, and all the way down through history to the rich young ruler. At the center of “pride” is the letter “I”. And it is also at the center of “sin”.
Like the rich young ruler, how much of our efforts in religion are founded in pride? How much of our works are for others to see our righteousness? How much is our desire for spiritual prominence or even spiritual gifts rooted in pride?
Many of us today are suffering in one way or another. But rather than looking at our trials as something we need to manipulate God to deliver us from, perhaps we need to rejoice, that God has counted us worthy to endure suffering. Let God’s pruning in us “have it’s perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” What we lose on earth we gain in heaven. “But let the brother of humble circumstances glory in his high position, and let the rich man glory in his humiliation.” James 1:9. Jesus said the humble shall inherit the earth, and the poor in spirit, or those without pride, belong to the kingdom of heaven. But many who are first shall be last, and the last, first.

unable to find the door

Jesus said in Matthew 11:12 the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. Men and women throughout the world are seeking after heaven, or eternal life and striving to gain it through means that are contrary to God’s way. In effect, they are struggling violently to push their way into heaven by their own strength or virtue or good deeds.
Yet Jesus said in Matthew 7:13, 14 that we have to "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” When you combine these two pictures presented in the scripture, you can imagine the people of the world blinded by sin, struggling to find the door, and perhaps even fighting to enter, only to discover too late that they entered the wrong door, the door that leads to destruction.
The rich young ruler typifies the approach that many are taking to reach the door. He came thinking he was keeping some standard of righteousness acceptable to his social status, puffed up in his religious fervor, perhaps earnestly seeking eternal life, only to be rebuffed by Jesus who demanded that first he forsake his riches and give them to the poor and then follow Him. The Bible says that he went away grieving because he had a lot of possessions.
The door to the kingdom of heaven is too narrow to bring anything with you. You have to be willing to leave everything on the other side. Jesus said in John 10:9 "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture". Many are seeking the kingdom and think they have found the door. But we need to be careful not to be attracted to the biggest, shiniest, most popular door. The door that Jesus offers is the least popular, the narrowest, the unattractive door, yet it is the one to the greatest spiritual blessings.
There is only one way into the kingdom of heaven, only one door and that is Jesus Christ. And there is only one way through that door. Naked, poor in spirit, beggars who realize that they have nothing to offer or barter with. “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, shall receive many times as much, and shall inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last and the last, first.” Matt. 19:29,30 No matter where you are in your walk with the Lord, be sure you are seeking the right door. There are many doors, but only one leads to life.

the cost of eternal life

A few years ago I was working outside on a pool and heard a noise which sounded like a pumpkin hitting the ground. Looking back across the street, I noticed an older man that had been working on a scaffold on a house had fallen off backwards and was lying on the driveway. As I rushed over and began assisting him, the lady of the house called 911 as it was apparent the man was in a bad way. A few minutes later, he became unconscious. Soon after that, he stopped breathing, his eyes rolled back in his head and I could find no pulse. He was dead. We were shouting at him to stay with us, but he was gone. I began CPR, praying aloud that God would bring him back, but with a rising panic that this man was gone. Just when I was ready to stop chest compressions and give up, he coughed, and suddenly he began to breathe again. I really believe that for a while there the guy was dead. No amount of shouting or pleading would make him respond. He could not feel me pounding on his chest. But when his life finally returned, by the time the rescue squad arrived he was able to converse with the responders.
I am reminded of that story whenever I think of the verse found in Ephesians 2:1. “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins…” From birth, I believe the Bible teaches us that we inherited the sinful nature from our parents, going all the way back to Adam. And as a result, we were estranged from God, without hope, dead in our sins. Like the man laying there in that front yard, we are incapable of having a relationship with God because spiritually we are dead. Jesus said that He came so that we might have life and have it more abundantly. A lot of people want to think that means that once saved we get to enjoy all the best things this world has to offer. But really it means that this dead body receives spiritual life and that is true life as it was really intended to be. We get back what was lost in the garden when Adam and Eve sinned - a spiritual relationship with the Father.
The rich young ruler in Matthew 19 realized that he was lacking something and came to Jesus asking “what good thing shall I do to obtain eternal life?” He had the right idea. But eternal life isn’t just the idea of living forever, it means becoming spiritually alive. He recognized that in spite of keeping all the commandments he still didn’t have it, and he was hoping that Jesus had the answer. In our churches today, we hear a lot about having a relationship with Jesus Christ. And the seeker friendly model that most churches employ seems to convey the idea that all you really need to do is have a desire to go to heaven and live forever. But the answer that Jesus gave to the rich young ruler is definitely not in keeping with the seeker friendly handbook. Matt. 19:23 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor , and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come and follow Me.” But before you think that only applies to rich people, look at Luke 14:33, “So therefore, no one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.”
There is a cost to eternal life, to having a spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ. And the cost of that life is everything you hold dear. “What will a man give in exchange for his soul?” The answer is everything.

funny how time slips away

The older I get the heavier my watch seems on my wrist. When you’re young, time is your friend. “Oh, Mom, I’ll do it later. I have plenty of time.” Time, for a while, seems to be almost standing still. You’re always looking ahead and tomorrow never comes. But when you get older, time starts to become your enemy. “There is just not enough hours in the day” is a popular expression. We can never find the time to do so many things we intend to do.
A recent conversation between a few of us older surfers the other day reminded me of how time is slipping away and how as we get older we try desperately to hold on to the illusion that there will always be more time. All of us had crossed that dreaded half century threshold and we were debating how many more years we might have left that we might be able to surf and still be relatively decent at it. Knowing how bad I am already, I was probably the least optimistic of the bunch. Whether I want to admit it or not, there will come a time, sooner than I would like, when I will find that though “the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak”.
All around us, signposts show how fleeting time is. Babies are born, children grow up and marry, friends and relatives pass away. Still, we think we have got plenty of time left. Plenty of time to get serious about our faith. Plenty of time to speak to that person about the Lord. Plenty of time to get to work for the Kingdom of Heaven. The devil only has to whisper in our ear to put it off for just a little while longer, and before we know it, it’s too late. Our opportunity is gone. Maybe that person that you meant to speak to has moved away to college. Maybe that opportunity you had to share your faith at work disappeared when you procrastinated. One of the saddest lines in the Bible is found in Jeremiah 8:20 “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”
We need to make the most of our time. We don’t know what tomorrow holds. But we have been given today. Let’s not waste it. James said, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.’ Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” James 4:13,14
Speaking of the summer passing, we have moved our Sunday services indoors here at Surfers Fellowship for the winter months. We will continue meeting at 8am in Bethany Beach, at the Christian Conference Center behind the playground in the center of town. We rent the octagonal building. Hope you will plan on joining us this week.

the greatest deception

Lately, I have become convinced more than ever before, that the greatest danger in Christianity today is the belief that there is some other authority in addition to the inspired Word of God. False teaching is taking the place of sound doctrine at an alarming rate. Everywhere we turn, we are confronted with false revelations, convoluted theologies, and flat out lies masquerading as truth.
In almost every case it’s because someone has lifted themselves or someone else up in authority equal to or greater than Scripture. Think about it. Every cult is the result of someone believing that they received some revelation in addition to the Bible. Every false teaching is the result of someone coming up with their own prophecy or doctrine and then twisting Scripture around out of context in order to justify it. There are more people running around saying “Thus sayeth the Lord” than you can shake a stick at. Everybody it seems, wants to be a prophet. But the Bible tells us that we are to be discerning, testing every spirit, because many false prophets are in the world. 1John 4:1
Jude 1:8 says “Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties.” Sounds like their visions resulted in rejecting the authority of Scripture.
2Peter 2:1,2 “ But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies… Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned;” The truth will be maligned means to slander or defame the Word.
Ezekiel 22:28 "Her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' when the LORD has not spoken."
There is only one reliable source of truth. Jesus, praying to the Father said, “Your word is truth.” John 17:17. There is only one source of inspiration. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. “ 2 Tim. 3:16
Inspired means God breathed. He breathed every word of Scripture to the prophets and writers of the Bible. It’s His words and He doesn’t appreciate people putting words in His mouth. John warns in Rev 22:18,19 “I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.”
Finally, the Old Testament tells us that a false prophet will be judged by whether or not his words are true. And the punishment for prophesying something that did not come true was stoning to death. Unfortunately, perhaps, we don’t stone false prophets anymore. But we certainly need to be aware that they are out there and as the time grows closer, the Bible says they will increase. Be vigilant, for your adversary the Devil goes about like a roaring lion seeking who he can devour. And Satan is a master at making a lie look like the truth.
October 10 is our last service on the beach this season. We hope you will join us if you can as we study God’s word. Of course, we will also be continuing all winter indoors in the octagonal building in the Christian Conference Center behind the playground.

How not to build a church

There is a lot of attention today focused on the best way to build a church. Many books have been written and many studies have been made. One of the most popular methods is known as the “seeker friendly” church model. Then there is the “purpose driven church” model and along those lines comes the newest addition to man’s attempts known as the “new emergent church”. The result in church growth across America is phenomenal. Today there are mega churches on every other street corner. You’re not considered relevant (no pun intended) unless you have at least a couple of services, and some churches have as many as five or six services on Sunday mornings. I almost get discouraged just driving to our service on Sunday as I witness a couple of the big ones in the area and the people pouring into the parking lots. While I’m just hoping someone shows up on the beach, they need a traffic cop.
A lot of times the early church of Acts is held up as an example of the ideal church, and I believe it should be. They too had phenomenal growth. But it wasn’t because of the worship band, or the drama team, or their magnificent buildings. The power of God was there. That’s a good thing, but it’s also a fearsome thing. In Acts 5 the story is told of Ananias and Sapphira, who sold a piece of property. Many new believers were selling all that they had and bringing in the proceeds to give to the Lord. Ananias and his wife coveted the kind of recognition that would bring. So they sold this property, but held back some of the money and brought in the rest, claiming it was the full price.
Well, Peter recognized their hypocrisy, declared that they were lying to the Holy Spirit, and they both fell down dead and had to be carried out. Wow. That’s not the way you want to go about building a mega church. If the Holy Spirit started killing off hypocrites today we would have a bunch of empty church parking lots in no time. Verse 13 affirms that by saying, “But none of the rest dared to associate with them”. It was dangerous to go to Peter’s church. But notice the rest of the verse. “However, the people held them in high esteem.” But then the next verse is really a mind blower. “And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number.”
In our study this week in Matthew 18 we will be looking at one of the first times Jesus used the term church in talking to the disciples. In this passage He is laying down the foundation of church discipline. In verse 20 Jesus reveals that the churches attitude towards sin is foundational for building a church where Christ will be in the midst. “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I will be in their midst.” I don’t know about you, but that’s where I want to be. I want to be where Christ is going to be glorified in the truth, whether or not it’s popular.