Should We Look Like The First Century Church?

To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 1 Corinthians 9:22 NIV

I have just a few comments before Christmas and the end of the year. We finished a great series of lessons on the seven churches described in Revelation last night and as we were coming to a close, I realized how far off the path we have probably taken ourselves with a desire to replicate the church of the first century. In fact, I have come to the conclusion that if anyone from the first century was to recognize and feel "right at home" in our gatherings, we have most likely been a failure to God.

It is a simple question to ask but what have we become so that the message will be heard about our savior? In the year 2010 should we really be 33 A.D. Christians or should we be current with all of the 2010 scenario to be effective.

As I came into the holidays, I played in several performances that glorified the Lord of Lords and yet my fellowship was only casually involved as audience members to the work of others. I was pleased to see many of my congregation active at the Refuge along side the Baptist church in providing some Christmas joy but I am still saddened to see a few people desiring for no change within our congregation. It is as if some are simply saying, "I don't care about the lost" if it means I have to do anything different from what I have been doing my whole life.

Yes, it is sad , but the tradition of the Church of Christ in most places is still more important than the will of Christ in our lives. I am encouraged by those I see beginning to push the edge of their comfort zone and make advances for becoming anything needed so that we might bring the message of salvation to some. In 2010 I look forward to our congregation making a complete break from the bondage of tradition and moving forward in a manner glorifying Christ.

One thing planned for 2010 is already in the primitive planning stages as I contact other religious leaders in the Deer Park community. The plan is for us to have a Great Communion for Deer Park. I have already visited with another leader from another church in our community and we will be inviting other to plan this event for 2010. The idea will be to invite everyone calling themselves Christian to join together and partake of the wine and bread together as we remember and glorify God as brother and sister. For this one day, we will be united as one only behind our savior and not any of the denominational names declaring the "division" of God's church today. When visiting on this topic I have already been told of some who will not participate and my answer was that all will be invited and those who don't want to participate will not stop us.

Have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year. Hopefully we will all glorify God more in the year He has planned for us.

Missing Out On God

During the past couple of weeks, I have been considering how many opportunities to connect spiritually with God have been missed. Over the years, I have played many pageants and Christmas programs for various churches and been part of an offering to those who sat in the audience. Most of the time, I was focused on trying to perfect my part in the whole orchestration and I never really considered every aspect of what was taking place during the offering (specifically of a spiritual nature).

This past Friday and Saturday I was playing with the Clear Lake Symphony and while I always enjoy the music, I looked up on the screen and took in the words of the selections we were playing. The setting of words to so many of the songs really spoke to me and when talking to those in the audience, I discovered how edified they were from the musical performance offered. I also realized those in the churches of Christ have never edified or lifted those who have souls called to life through music.

The rules and regulations fabricated by men in my heritage held all of those things important to my spritual health as sinful and deviant to honest Christianity. The saddest aspect of this realization comes from having played so much music written to glorify and honor God and those people not capable of seeing the value of the selections written. These musicans spend their lives with a single purpose of reaching the core of our spiritual needs with music to honor God and lift us to a position in our lives where we can be used to the glory of God.

I would guess I find myself in a position of needing prayers because my heart wants to respond in hate to those who do not have the ability to recognize the working of God in these musicians and allow them to meet the needs of so many brothers and sisters needing edification. Effectively, those who have taken the leadership away from Christ have made decisions for Christ and negatively impacted the health of our Lord's body.

I am glad to have passed the point of condemnation for those glorifying God with their gift of music and look forward to every opportunity I have to share the opportunities I know of in my life with others. Those looking for an opportunity only have to look to those churches in your area this week who are offering every sort of Christmas celebration to the community. I will be playing at Tallowood Baptist Church in Houston this weekend but I notice signs on nearly every church I pass acknowledging special plans to help those in the community celebrate the gift of salvation given so many years ago in the form of a baby.

I mentioned one thing causing saddness but I think the greatest spear thrown at our Christianity almost daily by those claiming to have everything right and do everything right, is the spear telling others that Satan is responsible all of the music bringing Glory to God and obviously taking us all to hell.

Enjoy your Christmas season because I have missed too many!

Partnered With God?

who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 2 Timothy 1:9 NIV

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." Luke 19:10 NIV

There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor? James 4:12 NIV

Over the past week or two, the idea of salvation has been churning in my thoughts and having spent time thinking about who is saved and who is not saved, I decided to share my current belief concerning our “mission” in God’s plan for the lost. As always, my thinking is heavily influenced by those I read and in a recent Reflection by Al Maxey, Quid Pro Quo Theology, I was able to better define my thoughts concerning “our part” in the plan of salvation. In Al’s Reflection, he also mentions and article by Dr. Garrett.

I really appreciate the work of Al Maxey and it looks like I need to begin reading more of Dr. Garrett. I mention this because both of these men have spent their lives in the study of scripture and their preparation comes from being in this field of study. My writing is usually off the top of my head and is basically the result of something I have been considering for some time. I find it important to place my thoughts in print as I make conclusions and come to my current position of belief. Hopefully, my beliefs will never get to the point of some I have been around over the years because some have not considered anything new in their belief for many years.

The title of this offering is “Partnered With God” and this past week when considering this thought, I even told people when it comes to saving the lost, we do not have anything to do with the salvation of another person. While I have heard the concept of God’s part and man’s part preached within my fellowship, I currently believe salvation to be something God has given and was planned, as mentioned in the quote above, before time began. I also believe Jesus came to save the lost and He is the one and only one responsible for the salvation offered to mankind.

I have mentioned in other comments how I believe every man, woman and child having lived and those who are still to come will have sufficient knowledge of God and Christ to be capable of responding to God with their heart in a way acceptable to receive the gift of salvation. Most of my years in the church have been spent defining the parameters of who is and who is not a member of God’s family and this was necessary because I/we felt a need or even a commandment of God to go out and SAVE the lost. The idea of all sin being forgiven on the cross was known and at the same time, foreign to us in our thinking. My mind accepted sin being forgiven, if and only if, I recognized the fact and responded in the appropriate manner to cover my sins with the blood of Christ.

Even as I type these words, I am still shackled by the official creed of the Churches of Christ and I am reminded of the writer asking how they shall know if no one preaches to them (my words). My training from childhood has been in the doctrine of each person being responsible for the salvation of another and it has been hard to accept God being responsible and me being nothing more than a tool of God in whatever He has planned.

I can hear the comments running through my mind expressing the sentiment of how many are lost because we have never reached them with the message of Christ. I can hear the burden of those in my past telling me how justified God is for condemning those who have not heard the message because they are sinners and the wages of sin is death. Ultimately, the reasoning results in millions of people having lived with no hope of salvation because MAN was a failure.

While I do not deny this is a possibility, I simply can’t accept God placing the success of His plan in the hand of a failure and in reality, His plan given to us in the bible says Jesus became man to take this burden upon Himself.

How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife? 1 Corinthians 7:16 NIV

“Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved.” John 5:34 NIV

He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.' Acts 11:14 NIV

After considering all just discussed, I think it is important to address so many of the scriptures, a few of which are quoted above, from which the idea of being burdened with this responsibility might have come. The quote from 1 Corinthians seems confusing and yet it reminds us of our inability to understand the saved or lost condition of those even in the close relationship of marriage. Over the years, I have been blinded by the idea of being responsible for salvation and failed to even notice how strongly the idea of not being able to know was being presented.

The message given to Cornelius wants to push us even deeper into the corner of responsibility because we see a comment made concerning the “message through which you and all your household will be saved.” Have I not mentioned in previous writing the belief of mine in Cornelius being saved before Peter ever got to him with this message?

One expression heard often in my past concerned the idea of scripture being twisted by those who were not “real Christians” or members of the Churches of Christ. Since many may not consider me a “real Christian,” I might as well admit the explanation is going to look pretty TWISTED. It might even look the same to those who do accept the validity of Christ working within my life and yet it is how I see what is being said!

I hope I have stated enough times the belief of Jesus completing His mission on the cross and being the only way for us to be saved. I have also stated before how I believe this gives God the ability to use the blood of His son to forgive any and all according to His plan whether it meets the definition of man or not.

The official doctrine of the Churches of Christ would claim, relative to Cornelius, the message brought by Peter would be heard and the response of him and his family to the message in belief, followed by confession and baptism would save him and all his household. Not being a bible scholar, like those mentioned above, I am looking at the words I have to consider and with the help and I believe guidance of the Holy Spirit in my life would ask a simple question. Could this passage not be saying he would simply be hearing of the one who came for him and would be responsible for his salvation on the day of judgment? In other words, When Peter comes to you, you will hear of the one who gave his life and through His blood you will be welcomed by the Father on that day. Read it again and possibly you will see it does not say man brought the opportunity of salvation but rather the knowledge of what is contained in the message. Notice also how Peter tells Cornelius he already knows the message. The only thing missing was knowledge of it including him on judgment day.

You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. Acts 10:36 NIV

All of this can easily come across as downplaying the role of missionaries in our society and some have even suggested it might be wrong to take the message of Jesus to other nations if they are already considered to be part of the family by God and covered by the blood of Jesus. The official Church of Christ doctrine tells me we are actually taking the message of condemnation to those who reject the message of Jesus if the message we take is not the vehicle by which they are saved.

While I constantly am reminded of how wrong I can be, I believe those becoming missionaries are taking something extremely valuable to those who never have known the name Jesus. In fact, just like Cornelius, we may be taking the message to just the right people. We may be taking the message to the family of God. I know this can sound strange but Romans 3:1-2 would have me believe the only advantage the Jews had over the Gentiles under the Law of Moses was in knowing the oracles of God. It did not make them more or less acceptable to God but only gave them the joy of knowing the promise.

Those of us who know our future with God, those who know there is now no condemnation for those in Christ, have the joy and peace capable of sustaining us through any trial. We have no fear of what will be since we know the end. Those without this message live their lives not knowing what will come next, if anything.

Even while accepting the decision God might have to use us as the “primary” source of responding to him appropriately, I believe we take JOY and we take PEACE!

Salvation is entirely the gift of God and not a burden placed on us where our failure might keep others from being saved.

Fear of What?

I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass, (Isaiah 51:12)

There have been great things happening on Wednesday night with my congregation as we have begun a study titled "Who Turned Out the Lights." It has been encouraging and exciting to hear my brothers and sisters speak honestly as we consider the letters addressed to the churches in Revelation. Needless to say, this has not been a tradition of my fellowship and instead of honesty of thought, others like myself, often consider their thoughts carefully so they will speak only the things appropriately representing the consensus of our fellowship.

One of the greatest conflicts coming to my mind when I consider the fellowship of my heritage is the idea of making sure we FEAR God and keep His commandments. In reality, this idea can be found in the bible but I "fear" we take it too far in the demonstration of our faith. This concept has long ceased to be the fear of God and taken on a new life of its own. In our previous desire to make sure we keep the commandments of God, we have given birth to the idea of fearing men who apparently SPEAK for God.

I fully believe each of us is either standing with or against God as we live out our lives. Unfortunately, we have taken on the responsibility of defining who is and is not standing with God as we use our own understanding of what it means to be part of His family. We grow up through a process of learning causing us to accept an idea of what is right and wrong in service to our God and when we discover the freedom of Christ, it is difficult to break free of the bonds holding us hostage.

Not called such last Wednesday, the idea of being held hostage by fear was clearly demonstrated in our discussion. The fear being discussed was not the fear of God, but rather the fear of men and if we allow this to continue, Satan will have won a great battle against the forces of righteousness.

Many fears were mentioned but it was common to hear fears relating to what others think when we do something not commonly thought of as acceptable in our fellowship assembly. When my heart is moved in response to God, I often feared what will be said if I say or in some cases sing according to the response perceived in my heart. There have been men (elders) tell me not to sing during the time communion trays are being passed through the auditorium and yes, I am fully aware some people are uncomfortable with this happening. From what I can tell, this is probably tied to the traditions of our fellowship and no real understanding of the bible or God. At times, my heart begs to sing and even be joyful during the time of communion and my fear of what others will say or do has caused me to "respect" their position.

Oddly, my response should have nothing to do with their response and we should each honor God without fear of the reprisal from someone not capable of enjoying the freedom found in Christ. I was raised to believe one person doing something during our worship time was effectively forcing all to participate. If someone sings then all are singing and yet you only have to lead singing a few times before you realize a great many people do not sing on any given song. I used to criticize them for not raising their voices to God and now realize there is no reason for them to participate in some facet of the service not speaking to them. The argument has also been taken to ridiculous extremes when preachers have preached all are using instruments in a service if even one is using an instrument.

I believe my grandfather had it right when he told me to follow along when a prayer was offered and add my own thoughts to the prayer offering as they were guided by the person leading prayer. The usual response relative to singing during communion is born from the idea forbidding the mixing of the various acts of worship and will state singing during communion interferes with the prayers being offered up to God. Turn the statement around and we have the prayers interfering with the singing of a song.

The statement is actually a valid argument and those wishing to sing have, in the past, been refused the opportunity to sing because the official "creed" of the Churches of Christ only allowed prayer during communion.

I look forward to the day when none of this will matter to anyone in the congregation and each person will lift their hearts to God according to the gift given to them by the Holy Spirit. After all, personal expression to God is not something God instructs me to control in the lives of others. It is a difficult thing when we attempt to quit running the Christian lives of others but hopefully it will allow us to focus on our own lives and offer ourselves more fully to God.

I started out with fear and so I will end with fear. The greatest fear I believe having bondage over my fellowship for the majority of my life is the fear of LOSING OUR SALVATION. In the words of Joe Beam, "Forgiven Forever," I can still hear him say this is most likely not as easy as we have accepted in the past. He does not deny the possibility but we have lived under the concept of our salvation being lost as a PROBABILITY! He goes on to say, "if Satan can't take our salvation from us, then his next best job will be to make us as ineffective as possible!"

My current fear is the accuracy of his statement with respect to our church fellowship today and recognizing Satan may be winning the battle to make us all ineffective as we "pretend" to live a life with hearts devoted to God.

The Law of Moses and Worship

October went by and I am sure that some may be pleased to see me disappear from blogging. For some reason, I felt a need to make sure my focus was on my preparation for class and the students I would be addressing. 7th grade bible class continues to be a source of joy and I love to hear what comes from the mind of those kids when they are allowed to express their thoughts in a hostile free environment. We focus on a different bible character each week and yet we still have plenty of time for "what do you think" in class. From one of our lessons, we have begun using the phrase biblical or non-biblical to preface points of our discussion. Not obvious to many I have grown up around and yet extremely obvious to 7th graders is the concept that a direct statement from God in the bible is biblical and a statement from me or the student concerning the meaning of something in the bible is usually non-biblical and only our own ability of reasoning.

I have enjoyed the first two lessons of our Wednesday night focus on the churches addressed at the beginning of Revelation called "Who Turned Out The Lights" and tonight as we discussed the church at Smyrna, I wandered off topic just long enough to consider something I am bringing up with very little thought. Indeed, you might just have to check for yourself because it is completely off the top of my head with no preparation spent going back to the Law of Moses for a refresher of what is written.

I came up with a simple question. What has the Law of Moses to do with worship in the Old Testament? As I briefly considered the topic and even asked a few people to make comments on the subject, I quickly got the answer I am currently thinking. NOTHING!

Possibly, a refresher is needed and I am definitely open to the reader who might post and give me an example I was to lazy to consider for myself. However, I believe the Law of Moses was given as instruction to the way God wanted His people to live. Some things required under the law might be considered worshipful and yet I don't see the Law of Moses as instructing the people of God in worship.

If the premise of my thought can be verified (which I currently think is the case), then the Law of Moses has nothing to do with worship and the instruction of worship in the Old Testament has nothing to do with the Law of Moses. I know I have mentioned before how I believe a person might currently find the Law of Moses of no value to our salvation and would also state how if the Law was "nailed to the cross" as was taught by my heritage then eliminating it from the bible for the purpose of our use today would still leave us with much information concerning God and His will for mankind.

Looking at this question, I simply believe the Law of Moses was the way of God given to His people requiring them to actually be 100% obedient and the New Testament gives us a new way of life where our perfection is given in Christ and our obedience is wrapped up in living a "failed" life as we attempt to transform ourselves into the likeness of Christ.

In closing, I believe the physical act of worship has never had anything to do with our salvation under the Old Law or the New Law. In the very words of Jesus, we are told the worship will not be on the mountain or in the temple but rather something new. Worship in spirit and truth will be the kind of worship fragrant and fully acceptable to God.

The "acts of worship" as we often describe them today are simply artificial and of no real value to God. The value of these acts is found in what they do for us in the form of encouragement to be Christ-like. The acts of worship possibly can't be described any better than in the Psalms and yet we argue over those things which our human reasoning can accept as acceptable.

I am reminded of how my grandfather carried a small New Testament and Psalms with him in his pocket. I have never seen it stated but believe the Psalms were thought to be important even though the rest of the Old Testament was "not needed" for our daily walk with Christ. Maybe someone will correct me with the true reasoning for the Psalms to be added to the New Testament but I currently believe it is because it instructs in all we need to consider as we daily walk with Christ.

The heart of David, a man after God's own heart, is modeled in Psalms for us so we can transform our heart to be one after God's, as well.

New Wine Does Fit An Old Skin

On Sunday, September 20, 2009, I was in Abilene and was excited to be able to visit with my youngest daughter, Lindsay and worship with her at the Minter Lane Church of Christ in Abilene. She spent some time looking for a congregation in Abilene when she got to town and knowing how frustrated she was with the concept of tradition trumping Christ, I was not sure if she would even end up within our fellowship. When I heard her talk of this congregation of saints, I was not sure what to expect when I visited but was thrilled after the worship service this past Sunday.

When I approached the building, it reminded me of several buildings I have entered in the past and everything is actually where it is supposed to be according to our denominational heritage. When I entered the auditorium, I stepped back in time with the wooden pews on each side holding the appropriate cards for visitors and membership. The building did have a great center aisle for those wishing a great place to walk for a wedding (had to put that in since my oldest is looking for a place to be married).

Being a song leader, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the song books placed neatly in the racks and I tried to think of a time when I had been in a building with song books this old but without looking at the date, it may have just been the wear of the books giving me this impression. I did notice the Minter Lane publication of a song book in the rack with the other book. It was not the usual words typed up so they could sing some other songs but rather a professional publication put together and stapled in the middle.

When we entered the building, we were given a worship guide reminding me of the worship guides I usually get when I visit a Baptist, Methodist or Lutheran service. I noticed a number of songs to be sung (few of which I knew) and several items listed for the day. One quick break in tradition was the use of more than one scripture reading and a reading done by the entire congregation. This was awesome!

Another break from the official Church of Christ traditional doctrine was one of the scripture readings being done by a woman. Yes, Christianity is not a “for men only club” found in most of our heritage. While one visit is not enough to see how much women are integrated into the worship experience, I would hope they also lead prayer, help with communion and teach from time to time. All of these things would most likely be offensive to several of the people I know but none of them is forbidden by anything other than the tradition of man speaking for God.

The singing was incredible, the lesson was awesome and I came away feeling edified and strengthened to walk the walk of a Christian this week. I know every group has their own hang-ups and I am sure this congregation is no exception to the rule. What pleases me greatly is the thought that our fellowship of Christians is coming out of the traditions of our past and knowing this group is probably one of the more conservative churches of Christ in the city of Abilene brought great excitement to the realization of Christ winning the battle over tradition.

Before closing this blog, I would have everyone know of one thing impressing me most in the handout this past Sunday. Everyone was being encouraged to attend and participate in the Great Communion planned for October 4, 2009. If you are in Abilene on October 4^th of this year, you would be able to meet together with our brothers and sisters from the churches of Christ, the Christian Churches and the Disciples of Christ and share the communion of our Lord. What a great day this will be for Christians in this world to acknowledge we are all one in the Lord though we have a variety of traditions for our weekly observance.

My hat is off to the body of Christ at Minter Lane and pray God continues to bless them with an even greater blessing than was offered up for the children and students of all ages on Sunday so they can continue to be a great edification of Christians in Abilene.

Yes, the skin is an old skin but the wine of life flowing in this congregation is fresh and edifying to those who get a “taste.”

"The Way We Do Things"

I often find myself aggravated when I discover an organization of my affiliation making political statements of support for a candidate in the political forum. The National Education Association and Texas State Teachers Association are often on the opposite side of my belief system and yet I see them come out in support of candidates I would never support. I have often objected to this because the membership was never polled to determine if even a percentage of the active group believed in the statement of support. The honesty and integrity of various organizations is often found lacking in this area when communication with the membership and a statement reflecting a percentage of support from the membership given in representation of the complete organization would be an easy task.

In our church congregations, we often find ourselves in the same hierarchy of decision making because we have created something for the church of our Lord replacing Jesus as the head of the church. In our attempt to copy things from the first century congregations, with very little, if any, guidance from God in the bible, it is easy to recognize how we have appointed people as the decisions makers for the local church. It is so odd how I was part of those who condemned the Catholic Church and the other denominations for having this hierarchy of decision makers and yet I was guilty of the same thinking. I was even taught to use this characteristic of having a hierarchy to define those who were denominations and later it became the basis for me being able to understand how my own heritage of the churches of Christ was actually a denomination. Basically, all of us who have been part of church groups have been part of denominational structure after coming out of individual homes.

Moving back around to the point of this blog, referenced in the title, I have considered who is supposed to be the decision maker for the church body. In my thinking, the bible only indicates one head of the church and this is Christ! The Church (body of Christ) does not have a main part of the body, separate from the head called upon to make decisions for the body but rather a condition where all parts work together under the direction of the head.

My understanding of the bible has me believe each part of the body works to support each other but no part of the body gets to tell the other part NO! There is no one in the body of our Lord given the authority to tell another Christian "you can't do that" or "this is the way we do things." If this exists, I would sure like for someone to show me where it is. I often hear other Christians communicate a directive to other Christians describing how we are to obey the instruction of our elders and I still don't see anything in the bible replacing Jesus as the head. Elders are not called or appointed in the bible to be the decision makers for the body but rather the spiritual leaders. The very qualifications we are asked to consider in men who would be elders is a life without reproach and life they are living as an example of how we are to live.

The simple explanation for the conflict which exists within the body of Christ is found in those who first, believe there is a need to be right and second find a need in their own lives to tell another Christian what to and not to do. It is not enough in our lives to live the life Christ lived as an example and nothing more. We have to make others into ourselves.

I am encouraged to hear of so many congregations who are giving up on the concept of elder directed congregations in favor of elder led congregations. Many have examined the false doctrines of their past and realized the error of placing Christ (as the sign says) in a co-pilot seat.

My dad used a phrase I believe might have been used by many adults in the past of telling me not to do what he did but do what I was told. I must say that I have used this phrase many times and I don't believe it was the true philosophy of my dad (particularly in his last years) but it has been a policy very close to the one we have traditionally held in our churches of "do what I do or else you are not welcome as a brother."

Christ said "follow me" and even the apostle Paul said "follow me." The focus of what to follow is not found in rules but rather a life. Just my opinion, but the body needs to focus on following and, in reality, becoming Christ to the world.

I look forward to a time when someone told "you can't do that" or "we don't do that here," to simply say, in a loving manner, "who placed you at the head of the church?" The local church body may want to do something or not want to do something but it is not the position of man to say no or yes, but rather the body to say yes or no. The body is ready for the task if only each part will do what it is called upon to do and not try to instruct the other part of the body.

Tracking "Our" Success

It has been a great afternoon and as I sat considering so many things, I came to consider how I have been raised in a fellowship of men and women who regularly track our success for God. I have had several ideas swimming through my mind lately but they all eventually came around to this concept and while I have not spent several days contemplating the idea of the effects this might have on our relationship with Christ, I currently believe, at least partly, it is responsible for the belief held in my fellowship of being able to accurately fulfill the will of God.

A primary goal of my fellowship has always been wrapped up in the number of baptisms we have within a year. In fact, just prior to sitting down to write, I found time to catch up on the Reflection writings of my great mentor in the faith Al Maxey and found myself impressed to discover how John Allen Gano had baptized over 10,000 persons in his lifetime and his son some 6,800 persons. http://www.zianet.com/maxey/reflx411.htm While this blog is not intended to downplay the awesome job of this preacher and his son, I have not been so impressed as to ignore the outcome we have often fostered in our own acts of taking Christ to others.

Our practice for so long following the baptism of a person was to hand them a book along the lines of “Now That I’m A Christian” and insure the education of the person into the dogma of our heritage. We may have had a “side goal” of helping them to develop a relationship with God but the primary focus of what I grew to know as “scriptural based teaching” was to place the burden of our legalism strongly on their conscience so they might know the “truth” of the true church; The Church of Christ! If the reader chooses to read the referenced Reflection above, he will soon discover how this man was not impressed with bringing someone into a relationship with the “local church” but rather a permanent relationship with God.

The beginning of this thought process focused around the joy I receive daily as I get to teach two 7th grade bible classes in school. These young minds are just getting to a point in their lives when the balance of always being told what to do and believe is being replaced with learning how to make decisions for themselves. As they learn from the myriad of mistakes they make on a daily basis (the same ones all of us made), they still find adults ready to tell them just “how things are.” Not being fond of pressing my dogma of education on the students, I am in the perfect place to inform them of the differences between what God has stated and man teaches. The questions they bring forth in class will often describe the same struggles being dealt with daily in our various church families and it is not uncommon for me to answer them with the realization of past “truth” being founded not in the bible but rather the will of man.

I once read a comment concerning the practice of some in public education to eliminate the family belief system and replace with the belief system of our society and I know this is the case having spent the majority of my teaching career in public education. What is now odd in my thinking is how I now seem to have a goal encouraging my students to think and make choices for themselves and not be restrained by the shackles their parents and church family wish to place on them.

I still find myself about to tell students the “truth” of the matter when questioned on some topic and yet, for the most part, I quickly make reference to the reality of men in my denomination forming a belief in one direction and those of other various denominations forming beliefs in another direction. Even this early in the year, I have been able to make reference to the reality of scripture not speaking to both point of views and how in their maturity they will be called upon to make decisions based on the faith they mature with Christ in their own lives. I hope they enjoy the honesty of the discussion because I know from email messages of the discussion content getting home.

Returning to the opening thoughts of this blog and hopefully bringing everything together, this idea formed by men relative to tracking our success indicates a mission we have come to believe exists for the church of our Lord. Stated simply, we believe we have the power to bring salvation to others and while this is currently the goal of many in the church, I do not believe our mission, the GREAT COMMISSION as some might call it from Jesus was ever intended to imply we have the power of salvation to give to anyone.

In truth, I was taught how some might not have the opportunity of being saved if I failed to do my part and effectively, I was responsible for some being lost and some being saved. We even refer to others as great warriors for the Lord based upon the number of baptisms happening in response to their efforts and yet salvation is not a gift of our labor but rather the gift of our savior.

In reality, when it comes to the “plan of salvation,” we have no part in success or failure and if the facts are told, there is NO FAILURE in the plan of salvation. Christ did everything needed and completely forgave all sin. With no part of salvation being part of our decision, we are either of the group thankful and devoted in our hearts to sharing the good news of God’s success or we choose to place our hearts far away from God in our lives and effectively spit in the face of Jesus.

I pray for the time when this realization becomes the norm and we begin to live a life thankful for all Christ has done. Unfortunately, those who must check off items from their list of legal requirements can only find support for their belief when totaling the number of successful conversions each year.

The Question Without An Appropriate Answer (and more)

I can’t tell you how many times in my past the phrase, “you can’t take one part of scripture by itself but you must put one passage with the other passages to have completeness,” has come up in biblical discussions. My question is simple and does not have a good answer. Why is any one statement by God not complete in and of itself?

The basis for the conclusion above being given is nothing less than an acceptance of man’s wisdom being superior to God! We are not told to add one statement to another and come up with a conclusion but our human ability to understand and reason assumes this practice as the only legitimate method of understanding a topic. I would have the reader notice it is our understanding of reasoning which makes this a necessity.

Typically this discussion comes forward when we consider the importance of baptism in salvation. If I were to quote to someone the passage saying “for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son and that those who believe on Him shall not perish,” members of my heritage would quickly add the requirement to be baptized because this passage does not mention baptism. The same people who will follow up with the statement made to Timothy concerning all scripture given being available for teaching and admonishment will rarely accept the same scripture when making references from the Old Testament which was available to Timothy and yet demand the assimilation of every passage to draw a “reasoned” conclusion on any given topic.

The reality of our ability to reason and the wisdom of God might best be summed up with a statement made to me as a young musician who believed he understood and knew something about music. One of my teachers offended me greatly when he overheard me making a statement of “fact” about music and told me strongly how I was so ignorant that I had not yet come to the point of knowing how little I knew. Well, brothers and sisters, I would extend this statement into the world of Christianity and claim anyone using his own wisdom, like the wisdom of having to put John 3:16 with Acts 2:38 in order to “level” their ability to reason Gods plan for His creation and salvation, is still to ignorant of the ways of God to fully understand how little we know about GOD and HIS WAYS!

Having been in the field of teaching for 31 years now, one of the things bothering teachers throughout this period of time are the “highly educated ones” who make something simple so extremely difficult. I have little doubt of how much better our school children would be educated if researchers and government officials who keep discovering the “right way to teach” would simply get out of the way and allow teachers to teach. When this is apposed to Christianity, I would suggest those “picking” the bible apart to make and draw specific conclusions of what God wants should get out of the way of the church and let them DO GODS WORK.

When looking at my own life and that of my congregation, I must say it seems like we are afraid to LEAD. Churches of Christ all over our country are discovering, for themselves the things I have spoken of in these blogs and are making changes to reflect Christ as the head of the church and not men. I can’t tell the reader how many times I have criticized the Catholic denomination over the past years for having a Pope who makes decisions for the church and yet, I have regularly given in and recognized the authority of the Pope in our own congregations. In many churches, the elders regularly swap in and out of the “Elder of the Month” or “Papal” position and having criticized the Catholic denomination, I recognize we are not immune to the same criticism. God’s people went to Samuel and told him they wanted a king and we have not changed over all these years. We can’t stand to have Christ as our head but must have a man in a position of being our authority.

Brothers and sisters, what have we done? We are the ones who took God’s plan for elders as being spiritual leaders and crowned them KING. Christ came to bring God to a personal level and we still want someone in between us and God. I just mentioned Samuel and I hope you will go back and read the story because God told Samuel to tell the people of how bad it would be under the authority of a King and sure enough, God’s word was true.

Our/your local congregation is what it has become because Christ is Lord or men are Lord. I have seen too many congregations in my heritage come out from behind the mantle of men being Lord and when they allow Christ to be Lord, they THRIVE. Many have blazed the path for us beginning in Texas with Oak Hills in San Antonio and then Richland Hills in the Dallas area. There were none in the Houston area until recently and then take a look and see which Church of Christ is thriving on the southwest side of Houston. Yes, Sugar Grove decided to study the scriptures for themselves and saw past the shackles placed on our heritage in the form of tradition.

Brothers and sisters, which Church of Christ on the southeast side of Houston is going to throw open the doors with Christ as Lord and cast off the shackles of tradition? It takes the faith of Abraham to step out. It takes the faith of David to step out.

What a COP OUT! It takes the faith of a church to step out!

There are those who read my blogs in disgust and having suggested I pull up stakes and LEAVE, will also be the ones who will be glad to know when the doors of a congregation founded in the Lordship of Christ opens on the southeast side of Houston, I will be there from then on.

My prayer for my own congregation is that we become that congregation on the southeast side of Houston. One or two years, we won’t have enough parking or room to hold all of the Christians who have already made the change of placing Christ ahead of tradition and the building will be crying out for additional rooms to hold everyone during worship services on Saturday, Sunday and any other day of the week needed to meet the needs of our brothers and sisters.

Some Are Choking On The Meat!

I can’t place in words the joy I get from meeting with life group members each week at home but it has given great spiritual life to my relationship with God. As I read text in the bible, it seems new and fresh and the opportunity to open up with others in a close group who know how each member loves God and wants to be effective as a Christian, is nothing less than the plan of God for His people.

One of the things always bothering me about those I have grown up with in the church is the opinions on what constitutes a great sermon. Even though I loved the man who preached for our congregation and was more than a little upset when he told me he had been released as the preacher for the congregation, I think, from what I am told and know, it has been a blessing for him and it has been a blessing for me.

I think my blessing from the last preacher was in getting to “sub” for him when needed and my focus on the topic was enhanced by knowing I might be called upon to continue the lesson. This created a desire in me to study or read ahead in the books of the bible we were covering. My blessing over the past five years is based in what I would call the “filet mignon” of being a Christian (this is my favorite steak and I do like a thick one cooked no more than 15 seconds on each side). To be specific, I have been ravenous as the true message of the gospel is delivered each week.

I have often commented how he has “hit one out of the park” and to me, I usually leave still chewing on the meat I have been given. Not to condemn any in my past, but the history of my fellowship has been consumed with continuing to provide milk and baby food of little substance. It is still not uncommon to get a real “meat” sermon and then have someone step in make sure the milk is POURED back down our throats. I do not condemn milk, but it is for the babies and if the church is hungry for milk, something must be wrong.

In discussion this past Sunday evening, an illustration of my past life came to mind and I do believe it is applicable to the problems we are facing in Christianity today. The major failing of our denomination in the past has been caught up in check-list Christianity. We have desired to list and obey the commands of God so we can know we stand justified in His sight. I mentioned Sunday night and have come to the conclusion of nothing definitive being “required” on our part for salvation. In my current thinking, the only absolute requirement applicable to all men everywhere was completed by Christ on the cross. If we take the position of even one thing being absolutely necessary (outside of Christ mentioned above), we have taken the position of being part of check-list Christianity. I see no difference in us having one absolute and another person having ten absolutes. We both have a list and I believe it is not aligned with the will of God in our lives.

Returning to the topic of preachers in my past, I realized a problem some seem to see today as leaving the word or not providing appropriate teaching from the bible. Almost 100% of the sermons delivered prior to the past five years have come directly from a book of the bible (authentic sermons some desire) and while I do not object to sermons taken directly from the books of the bible, more is hidden in this practice than readily comes clear. These lessons were individual lessons made up from the text and “authenticated” with the official commentaries of our fellowship prior to delivering the sermon. In other words, it was a summary of another man’s work upon which our heritage is founded and then placed on the minds of the next generation. Our traditions became the official Law of God (commandments of God).

Weekly we have been fed for years on the milk of our tradition concerning the concepts of hearing, believing, repenting, confessing and being baptized for the remission of sins and anything not containing these elements was less than a good sermon. I can even remember my grandfather reminding me of the elements that needed to be in a good sermon.

The author of Hebrews, which by the way I do not believe is the apostle Paul, tells us of the need to put these things away and move on to the meat of living our lives for God and this meat is wrapped up in discerning the good available for us to do. If a preacher dares to move on to the “filet mignon” of God, he has made a mistake I only discovered Sunday night prior to this blog. He makes those adhering to check-list Christianity uneasy when they are forced to hear something new and not directly from the commentary “play book.”

For the majority of my life, I have been seated in auditoriums with no desire to critique the sermon and yet as a check-list Christian, I would hear the “official” tenants of our tradition and mentally check them off one at a time. As I checked each comment off from the preacher, I was confirming to myself how my salvation was guaranteed by being accurately in line with the authoritative declaration of God’s word from the bible. The fact of it being little more than a summary of another man’s study which became our official tradition and doctrine had nothing to do with our ultimate conclusion of salvation based on being accurate in doctrine to the smallest detail.

In many church congregations, both in our denomination and those we have been condemning of in the past, there are men coming forward like the one I have been blessed to hear for the past five years who have discovered and decided we need to move on to the meat of Christianity. As they preach this “new” message which just happens to be the basis of all Jesus taught the apostles, our salvation via check-list Christianity is challenged and the thought immediately goes to the condemnation of everything salvation has been based upon in our lives. Christians from everywhere are literally CHOKING on the meat of the Gospel message!

As with a piece of meat lodged in our throat blocking the oxygen we need so badly, the meat of the gospel given to those shackled with check-list Christianity brings forth the reality of a life lived with heart of people given to something other than God and leading to nothing more than death. We have numerous examples in the bible of men being dedicated in deeds to God and being condemned in every “God following deed” because their hearts were far from God. In the past, I have been guilty of believing those Jesus spoke of as saying “Lord, Lord” and being faced with God never knowing them were all of those other denominations who do not believe as WE DO! Reality for those calling out to God is the acknowledgment of believing they were part of God’s will because of the things they could check off for God.

My mother used to tell me to chew my meat well so I would not get choked and I am more than thankful of God blessing me and my congregation with a delicious filet week after week. I long for a time when all will discover the meat is no longer milk and eliminate the possibility of choking.

The Lost "Parable" of Matthew 7:22

As Jesus was sitting with his disciples one evening, Peter and the others were beginning to argue over who was wise enough to walk the narrow path. Jesus, knowing their thoughts spoke to them in a parable saying. "There was once a baby born to Christian parents and as he grew and matured through the mistakes of his youth, his parents provided the training necessary for him to recognize God as the creator of everything and he eventually came to know the son of God as the savior of the world.

Mike grew and study of the scriptures became a daily practice in his life. He could literally quote large passages of scriptures and he was not satisfied until he had reasoned every possible lesson from God's word. Constantly maturing in his devotion to God, he would be in every worship service, he would lead or take part in whatever task was assigned and he was faithful in giving a material blessing back to God each week.

For several years Mike took the word of God and spread knowledge of God's plan for man from sea to sea and even traveled to foreign lands preaching the Good News of God's son coming to save the world. His life was legendary and everyone knew of his knowledge of the scriptures and with thousands upon thousands baptized into Christ because of his devotion and teaching, Mike looked forward to judgment day.

Mike got to judgment, as all men will and do, and he was standing tall as he knew well about the EXPECTED welcome "thou good and faithful servant." Approaching God, Mike went to his knees with great joy and heard the Creator of the Universe say, "I don't know you!"

As Mike heard these words, he jumped to his feet and began to plead with God saying, Lord, Lord, I devoted my whole life to you. I preached, I sang, I baptized thousands for the remission of sin, I was baptized for the remission of my sin, I was faithfully present at every worship service, I gave of my money, I read your word every day and committed it to memory, I followed all of your commandments and many came to know of you because of my life.

God looked at Mike with a tear in his eye and said, "all these things you did BUT, when I was hungry, you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.

Depart from me, Mike. You are cursed and must be cast into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels!

The disciples were troubled by this parable from Jesus and all evening they kept repeating, "Who then shall be able to enter the kingdom of Heaven."

Finally, having enough of this distraction, Jesus stood and exclaimed to all, "O ye of little faith, do you not yet realize Heaven is not for those seen of men doing all of the right things. Heaven is not for those wise men who have discovered every nuance of God's word.

The gift I offer is offered to those who love me and love as if they were me, whether in weakness of knowledge or strength of knowledge! Knowledge is neither good or bad but your heart, not your ability to discern the "necessary" commands must belong to God!

Who Is A Christian

Just a few comments as I sit in hotel lobby waiting for the day where I leave my youngest daughter in Abilene to start her college life.

During my drive yesterday where I was challenged with two problems of Lindsay's truck breaking down which finally ended in a tow, I had some time to think about all of the wonder God has brought to us. Breaking down across the street from a mechanic who could fix the problem was a blessing. Breaking down a second time, close enough to Abilene for my roadside service to tow the truck to a shop near the university was the next blessing. The truck will be fixed some time next week and Lindsay will have transportation but for the first part of her college experience, she will be facing the challenge of no transportation and dorm life. For some reason, I believe this will result in another blessing from God.

Oddly, I was taught the concept of luck in my early Christian years but actual interaction of God with His people was not happening. I think it is enough to say I don't agree. God interacts with me every day and I fully believe He had his hand on everything happening Friday so I could be blessed. The question is whether I blessed someone through the opportunities and I had great conversations with God included as I spoke to the mechanic and also the young lady towing the truck. How this will be used by God in their lives I do not know but He was brought into the the situation as a blessing and each individual knew I considered breaking down as a blessing from God.

This brings up another thought running through my mind as daylight ran out for reading and after lighting a flare to show a possible hazard to vehicles coming at me from behind, I had time to consider who is actually a real Christian.

In my early training, a real Christian was defined by baptism for the remission of sins. Someone having been "obedient" to this legal regulation, was a real Christian and approved of God. Anyone not having been baptized, regardless of how they lived their lives could only come to the point of being an artificial or "play" Christian. They were lost and would face the punishment of eternal condemnation.

I know most of those reading have heard the same thing from the preaching of our past and I must say I have trouble even writing against the concept of someone teaching "being a good person is not enough." Sitting in my truck and talking to God on Friday, I decided in my heart being a good person is "possibly" enough.

I asked myself "who is the real Christian, the one who has been baptized or the one who looks like Christ?" If Christian really means CHRIST-LIKE, then my answer has to be the one who looks like Christ. I decided (for now) how someone who has chosen the path of righteousness because they know in their heart it is right, (the good person) I will accept them as being the true/real Christian.

I believe this belief is consistent with the idea of our knowledge and our works never being sufficient to save us. I also believe God has made Himself and His desire for us to be Christ-like known to everyone living and when we make the choice to be Christ-like we are acceptable to Him. We then hopefully learn and grow closer but in my mind, the true/real Christian will have salvation and our judgment of who is and is not a Christian only serves to put distance between us and others who might walk with God daily.

What's Going On?

Another school year will be starting soon and having participated in the Texas Christian Schools Association Conference this past weekend in Midland, Texas, I feel fired up with purpose. During the conference, I was faced with time to meditate on all of the things I have witnessed in public education over the past 30 years and it was easy to follow the reasoning behind speeches given at the conference detailing the importance of keeping Christ foremost in everything we do and teach.

I have been guilty in my past of separating my Christian life from my work life. In my mind, I accepted the concept of public schools needing Christian men and women so God could still have influence in the school setting. We are called to live the likeness of Christ in every facet of our lives and I still believe it is a good thing to have Christian men and women around our children. Unfortunately, when I look back on the in-service sessions given to teachers and the various faculty meetings I attended, it is easy to see the joy Satan is having with our public schools and teachers, even those of us claiming to be Christian teachers, have been drawn into the snares of Satan and allowed his influence to form the framework of reference for living instead of Christ.

Glen Schultz, author of “Kingdom Education,” was one of the speakers I was blessed to hear speak on Friday and Saturday and he mentioned a fact about Satan I have never considered. “Satan can’t turn darkness on. We have to turn the light out!” I thought this comment was great and it disturbed my thinking because I could quickly see how many times I witnessed Christian men and women, even leaders in the church, dim the light of God towards darkness as they accepted and promoted darkness in our schools.

I can’t remember who was quoted but an early quote catching my attention stated it was the “role of the church and parent to teach God and the role of the school to teach facts.” We have been easily trapped into believing and accepting as fact; God has no place in school. It was a bit scary when I chose to leave public education last year but oh the blessing of being able to make God the stated reason and purpose for everything I do and teach at school.

In one of the lessons given, Glen Schultz spoke of our framework of reference and on his PowerPoint presentation, he had the following five points of reference circling the reasoning people have to belief certain things about our lives.

1. Creation-The material is all there is
2. God-Does not exist
3. Mankind-We are a result of choice
4. Purpose-People create their own sense of meaning and value
5. Moral Order-Morality is determined by humans alone and based on need

God is removed in our schools from being a point of reference and the reference our kids and teachers use to make choices will allow for the acceptance of any number of sinful actions in our society. I personally witnessed the acceptance of homosexual behavior presented in teacher in-service as acceptable behavior. As a teacher, we were forced to read and discuss openly sexually deviant things “for the good of the school.” Many teachers found these things disgusting but sat through the process anyway. Some chose to walk out on sessions declaring sin to be righteousness.

One defining example of Satan’s influence on our public schools comes from the example of extortion used regularly in our schools as a “fund-raising project.” Deer Park ISD was famous during my years as a teacher for allowing students the opportunity to “buy” their way out of detention. As I write this, I can visualize the long line of students forming to pay their dollar and be freed from detention. I would guess the school has extorted $150.00 a week on average from the students as they teach the concept of “adjusted” morality!

As the reader can see, the problem with our faith is not simply limited to the tradition of playing church on Sunday but also includes the area of our lives where we choose to play with Satan. How I wish I had a bus to drive to school every morning and take the kids of our congregation with me to school. Am I in a perfect Christ-like Utopia? No, but it is great to have Christ behind every action and purpose. Creation is the work of God who does exist and all things, even the numbers and formulas used in Geometry are the work of God.

The future of our country is in the hands of those who control the education of our children and we do not have to watch the leadership of our country for long before we recognize the acceptance of sin by those who have a framework of reference taken from men and not God.

My encouragement for those with children in the public schools and even Christian teachers continuing in public school education is for you to be fervently on the watch for Satan desiring to trap you in sin and be the one in your life to take a stand for righteousness. Of course, if you like Michael Hicks (one term school board member) choose to take a stand for God; you will be ostracized by the community. The great news is how I seem to remember one of the writers in the Bible more or less guaranteeing the persecution you will face for the cause of Christ.

The Christian Advantage

For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. Romans 2:13 NIV


Even though I am horrible at memorizing scripture, I once focused on trying to memorize Romans (I guess I might have succeeded with a book of a bit shorter length) and even though I gave up on this task, I fully believe the Holy Spirit was leading me to an understanding of Romans and our Christian lives based on the information he begins with concerning those who were Jews. While it may seem like I am stretching the words written about Jewish people to make an application about Christian mentality, it does speak to my belief about those who stand approved (covered by the blood of Jesus).


The quote above, coming from the second chapter of Romans is taken from the discussion of those Gentile people who were obedient to God’s calling to righteousness having never heard of God’s commandments given to the Jewish nation. I grew up being taught how the promise to Abraham was only to the Jewish people and then, following the death of Jesus, this promise was extended to the Gentiles. Basically, in my early instruction, I was taught those having lived prior to the death of Christ were only “eligible” if part of the Jewish nation.


I currently believe anyone having lived is covered by the blood of Jesus due to the condition of their heart and not the condition of their association with the Jewish fellowship. The following passage, also from chapter two, leads me to believe this about those living before Christ and to make the same association within our Christian fellowship.


A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God. Romans 2:28-29 NIV


Paraphrasing this passage from the bible, I have drawn the following definition of a Christian. A man is not a Christian according to his outward decision to be baptized. Nor is baptism merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Christian if he is one inwardly, and baptism is baptism of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the obedience of baptism declared in a command.


It has not been long since I made some comments about baptism and so I will not go into those thoughts again at this time. I am pleased to hear great preaching on the concept of loving God and loving our neighbor because I believe this is the totality of being obedient to the commands of Jesus.


(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, Romans 2:14 NIV


When I look at this statement concerning the Gentiles, it also leads me to believe the following paraphrased statement. Indeed, when those without knowledge of Christ and his commandments, do by nature those things commanded by Christ, they are Christian in reality, even though they do not possess knowledge of Christ.


I can’t even imagine how many times I have been told (reminded) of the “fact” salvation is not possible or even available to those who are simply “good people,” and while the teaching of my youth still makes it hard to accept this is less than fact, I can easily accept salvation being available to GOOD people who have a heart devoted to doing good due to KNOWING in their heart it is the right focus to have. I also think their obedience condemns those of us who are “fully” baptized outwardly in our lives when others know and choose to be good through a baptism of their hearts and our “circumcision” to God is little more than outward obedience in baptism; not heart for being the goodness of Christ to others.


What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God. Romans 3:1-2 NIV


When making statements like this to other Christians, particularly those who have invested their lives in either being a missionary or supporting a missionary effort, it is often easy to believe the importance of missionary efforts is downplayed and many will actually make an association by which taking the message to those without Jesus would actually be taking condemnation to them if salvation were possible without the knowledge of Jesus. Yes, while it is simply a belief of mine and not stated in these specific words, I do believe salvation is not only possible but equally available to those who have never heard the name Jesus spoken in a human language.


In the passage above, I believe Paul has just informed the audience of non-Jewish people being acceptable to God without even knowing of the Law of Moses and then opens the third chapter with a very important question similar to the questions facing those who might believe we are taking condemnation to those who do not have a knowledge of Jesus simply because we might believe they have access to salvation without the knowledge. We ask the same question today. “What is the value (use) of knowing about Christ?”


Paul describes to his audience the concept of having had the word of God given to the Jew as being the value of being heirs through their Jewish lineage. They literally had the joy of knowing God and His plan for His people. I believe the same value exists for Christians today and should give us even greater reason to offer our lives and support to the work of missionary. If, as I currently believe, salvation is available to those with no knowledge of Jesus, there is still something extremely important missing in their lives.


We have great joy knowing of our salvation and we can share this joy with others who will learn of Christ and all He has done. Oddly enough, few of us live with true joy in our lives and so it is difficult for us to see sharing the joy of salvation as important when we have been trained to believe we are TAKING salvation to the lost!

The Butler Servant

It has been a few days since I last made some comments relative to things running through my mind and during this time, I read "Pagan Christianity." I wrote a review of the book on Amazon and still think it is a bit depressing because it reminded me how far from the will of God we have come in the organization of our churches. It is easy to have a sense of hopelessness and yet the position of hopelessness is so far away from where God would have us enjoy our lives. I continue to see so many of my brothers and sisters focus their comments on the commands of God we must all follow if we are to be found faithful to God and it is this statement I have decided to address this morning. If we choose to insist on following the commands of God for His approval and so we can be found "faithful," we have lost and stand condemned at this very moment. I would rather sit on the knowledge of there now being no condemnation for those in Christ.

I am not sure how old I was when I watched a show on the television describing what it took to be an "English Butler," but I do know it has remained in my mind and came up recently when discussing our obedience to God. It seems the butler must train himself to anticipate the needs of his employer and they were not hired to follow directions but be of service before the directions were given. It was the butlers job to have the bath drawn to the correct temperature at the right moment for his employer to take a bath. The newspaper would be ironed and placed for reading along side the cup of "hot" coffee just prior to time for breakfast. The car would be at the door before it was time to leave. Every skill needed to be the perfect butler was defined by the ability to anticipate and do what was needed without being asked. In service as a butler, the greatest failure was being asked to do something!

We are told more than once in the bible to encourage each other toward good deeds and yet our focus is often on deciphering rules and regulations to be obeyed. Considering this and making application of the two commands I believe represent the totality of the commands we are "asked" to follow if we love God, I believe taking a lesson from the butler would be worth considering.

Showing our love to God and our love to our neighbor, we can be about looking to do good things to those around us. Rather than focus our lives on obedience to a list of rules which we can't find in the first place, I believe it would be great for us to anticipate the needs of others and be present in the lives of our Christian family and those of our community before they ask! We have a habit of "asking" what we can do to help and yet we can simply offer ourselves in such a way as to actually be Christ to others.

I can remember some of the most joyous moments coming when someone did something I wanted done without me asking. I am sure we have even seen times in our families when we said something similar to "why should I have to ask for you to do something."

If this brings great joy to me as a fallible human, I can only imagine how please He will be with us when we demonstrate the evidence of our faith in being obedient in the things He has not specifically asked from us.

God had a plan for our salvation from the beginning because His goodness anticipated the need prior to our failure. If we are going to be like God, we need to practice obedience based on the anticipation of a need and not the directness of a command.