Blog Archives

WHATEVER IT TAKES

7/28/2011

In his sermon on 1 Peter 2:21-24, Living for Jesus: A Life-Long Commitment, Ed Yount, Pastor of Woodlawn Baptist Church in Conover, North Carolina, relates the following humorous story:

Some people today are like a forty-year-old bachelor I heard about who was looking for a wife. He wanted someone who was a mixture between Wonder Woman and Betty Crocker.

One day, while on a business trip, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen walked on the plane and sat down beside him. He asked her, “What kind of a man does a beautiful woman like you like?”

She said, “Well, you know, I like Native American men because they are tall, dark and handsome; and I like Jewish men because they are intellectual and wealthy; and then there is something in me that likes a macho man—a good old southern boy that has a gun across the back of his pickup and a dog in the back.”

Then that beautiful girl looked at him and said, “What’s your name?” He said, “Well, my name is Geronimo Goldberg, but my friends just call me Bubba.”

Rev. Yount then points out that, like that bachelor, far too many people today are quite willing to conform to the world around them in order to be accepted or to achieve a particular goal they have in mind.

However, as true disciples of Jesus Christ, we are held to a much higher standard. Scripture teaches that we are to possess a life-long devotion to our Lord, resulting in a lasting transformation, both in our attitude and our actions.

No doubt a timely admonition - for me, for you, and for all believers in today’s world!

Source: http://www.finditherenc.org/fileadmin/find_it_here/Preach/Ed_Yount.doc

OUR GREATEST NEED

7/25/2011

In Colossians 1:12-14, the Apostle Paul states that we, as believers, should be: "giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

D. A. Carson is a Canadian-born evangelical Pastor and Theologian who has served as Research Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois since 1978. Along the way, he has edited and/or authored over fifty books.

In his work, A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers (Baker Books, 1992), he makes the following insightful observation regarding Paul’s statements in Colossians chapter one above.

“If God had perceived that our greatest need was economic, He would have sent an economist.

If He had perceived that our greatest need was entertainment, He would have sent us a comedian or an artist.

If God had perceived that our greatest need was political stability, He would have sent us a politician.

If he had perceived that our greatest need was health, He would have sent us a doctor.

But He perceived that our greatest need involved our sin, our alienation from Him, our profound rebellion, our death, and He sent us a Savior.

What Paul is saying is that to live a life worthy of Jesus Christ is to overflow with joyful thanksgiving in the light of salvation we have received at His hand. If we have been transferred out of the dominion of darkness and into the kingdom of the Son beloved by God, our only appropriate response is joyful gratitude.”

May I add a hardy “Amen”! Praise God that He has met our every need in Christ Jesus. May we ever be cognizant of this! May we ever be thankful for this! And may we ever praise Him for this!

CLASSIC BIBLE PASSAGES

7/21/2011

I have been privileged in my life to sit under some great teachers. At Mercer University, I was taught: Religion by Colin Harris, Church History by Duane Davis, and Philosophy and Theology by Deal Hudson.

Later on at Princeton Seminary, I sat under the teachings of men such as Diogenes Allen for Philosophy, Karlfried Froehlich for Theology, Thomas Long for Preaching, James Moorhead for Church History, and the likes of Bruce Metzger and J.J.M. Roberts for Biblical Studies.

And at Southern Seminary, my teachers included men such as James Blevins for Biblical Studies and Bryant Hicks for Evangelism and Missions.

I suppose, however, that if I were asked to pick the greatest influence on my life and ministry, at least among my various professors, it would have to be William Geren. A learned man (Th.M., Southern Seminary; Ph.D., University of Chicago), he was nonetheless very meek and humble. I truly believe he has already learned and forgotten more then I will ever read and learn.

The last I heard from Gr. Geren, he was semi-retired and living in the North Georgia mountains, still teaching some. He was in his early 90’s, having served the Lord long and well, as well as having been a faithful and loving husband and father.*

I recently referenced a list of “Classic Bible Passages” he had handed out way back in my “Introduction to the Bible” class at Mercer University in 1980. I still have this list; and it is helping to form the basis of a short series of messages I am now preaching on Sunday nights on the great chapters of the Bible. Several have asked for this document after I referenced it. It is attached here.

Note: I have made a slight modification from the original document. Dr. Geren had listed the books in the order of their historical development. I placed them in their traditional order, as this may be more beneficial to lay persons. (For example: The book of Psalms is commonly accepted as the Worship and Prayer Book of the Second Temple period in Old Testament times. Dr. Geren’s list, therefore, had Psalms occurring after the rebuilding of the temple, and thus toward the end of the Old Testament period.)

Note Also: Any listing of classic passages of the Bible will always be somewhat subjective, and therefore open to debate. From Dr. Geren’s perspective, he was attempting to teach an introductory course covering the whole of the Bible in its historical development and unfolding. This is not intended to be a devotional list. Therefore, he does not include, for instance, Psalm 23, as such a list might be expected to include.

*UPDATE: Sadly, since posting this blog, I have learned that Dr. Geren has passed away and gone on to his Heavenly reward. I regret that I missed his memorial service, which was conducted by Drs. Davis and Harris. If you would like to know more about the life of this Godly man who so heavily influenced my own life, you can read his obituary at:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/atlanta/obituary.aspx?n=william-geren&pid=119209672.

THEN AND NOW

7/18/2011

Many of you asked about the various references to Harvard University I have made in sermons recently. Here they are. The first is from 1640 A.D. The second is from 2011 A.D. You be the judge as to whether things have changed there or not.

REFERENCE ONE

The History of the Founding of Harvard College

AFTER GOD HAD carried us safe to New England, and we had built our houses, provided necessaries for our livelihood, reared convenient places for God's worship, and led the civil government, one of the next things we longed for and looked after was to advance learning and perpetuate it to posterity; dreading to leave an illiterate ministry to the churches, when our present ministers shall lie in the dust.

And as we were thinking and consulting how to effect this great work, it pleased God to stir up the heart of one Mr. Harvard (a godly gentleman and a lover of learning, there living among us) to give the one-half of his estate (it being in all about £700) toward the founding of a college, and all his library. After him, another gave £300; others after them cast in more; and the public hand of the state added the rest. The college was, by common consent, appointed to be at Cambridge (a place very pleasant and accommodate) and is called (according to the name of the first founder) Harvard College.

The edifice is very fair and comely within and without, having in it a spacious hall where they daily meet at commons, lectures, and exercises; and a large library with some books to it, the gifts of diverse of our friends, their chambers and studies also fitted for and possessed by the students, and all other rooms of office necessary and convenient with all needful offices thereto belonging. And by the side of the college, a fair grammar school, for the training up of young scholars and fitting of them for academical learning, that still as they are judged ripe they may be received into the college of this school.

Master Corlet is the master who has very well approved himself for his abilities, dexterity, and painfulness in teaching and education of the youths under him. Over the college is Master Dunster placed as president, a learned, a conscionable, and industrious man, who has so trained up his pupils in the tongues and arts, and so seasoned them with the principles of divinity and Christianity*, that we have to our great comfort (and in truth) beyond our hopes, beheld their progress in learning and godliness also.

The former of these has appeared in their public declamations in Latin and Greek, and disputations logic and philosophy which they have been wonted (besides their ordinary exercises in the college hall) in the audience of the magistrates, ministers, and other scholars for the probation of their growth in learning, upon set days, constantly once every month to make and uphold. The latter has been manifested in sundry of them by the savory things of their spirits in their godly versation; insomuch that we are confident, if these early blossoms may be cherished and warmed with the influence of the friends of learning and lovers of this pious work, they will, by the help of God, come to happy maturity in a short time.

Over the college are twelve overseers chosen by the General Court, six of them are of the magistrates, the other six of the ministers, who are to promote the best good of it and (having a power of influence into all persons in it) are to see that everyone be diligent and proficient in his proper place.

*Please note that, all attempts to reinterpret or diminish it notwithstanding, this document clearly and specifically refers to the training and seasoning of pupils with the principles of "Christianity".

Printed Source: New England's First Fruits, 1640 (Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 1792, Volume 1, pp. 242-248).
Web Source: http://www.constitution.org/primarysources/firstfruits.html
See also: http://www.albertmohler.com/2006/02/22/harvard-universitys-founding-vision-and-mission-a-timely-reminder/. Note: Here is a picture of the actual gates I took on a trip through New England a few years ago.

For a detailed discussion of the founding of Harvard College as an institution to train Christian pastors, see Sidney E. Ahlstrom's A Religious History of the American People, Volume One (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1975), pp. 198 ff. As Dr. Ahlstrom (himself a Harvard graduate, Fulbright Scholar, and Yale Professor) painstakingly details, Harvard College was clearly founded by Christians for the purpose of educating Christian Clergy. However, things appear to be just a little different up in Cambridge today.

REFERENCE TWO

Follow this link (http://chaplains.harvard.edu/chaplains.php) to see the make-up of the current list of chaplains at Harvard University, as listed on the Webpage at Harvard's Memorial Church, located right in the center of campus. Note the non-Christian make-up of many of the members of that group, made all the more intriguing by their having been listed on the same website of an institution calling itself a church and purporting to practice the Christian liturgy complete with services for baptism and holy communion (http://www.memorialchurch.harvard.edu/media.php).

Needless to say, things are not exactly the same as they once were on the campus of what was once seen as America's greatest seat of learning.

LIGHT-HEADED

7/12/2011

While on vacation recently, I discovered that a member of my extended family was putting something in her hair in order to allow the sun to lighten its color. As might be expected, I immediately began to pick at her, reminding her of all the now famous “blonde jokes”, and of the inevitable reduction in brain power she was about to suffer as a result of her actions.

This past week has been a down time for my own brain as well. Having taken a little time off in order to “get away from it all”, I have not done much critical thinking myself. Thus, I have not put a lot of thought into my blog for today either. I decided, rather, to post a little humor in the form of a joke – one not requiring a lot of brainpower.

Therefore, with apologies to all blonde headed persons everywhere, here it is: the best “Blonde Joke” I know of.

A man was in his front yard mowing grass when his attractive blonde female neighbor came out of the house and went straight to her mailbox. She opened it, then slammed it shut, and stormed back into the house.

A little later, she came out of her house again, went out to the mailbox again, opened it again, and then slammed it shut again. Angrily, back into the house she went.

As the man was getting ready to edge the lawn, out she came yet again, marched once again to the mailbox, opened it yet again, and then slammed it shut harder than ever.

Puzzled by her actions, the man asked her, “Is something wrong?” To this she replied, “There certainly is!”

(Are you ready?)

(This is a beauty!)

(Here it is…)

In utter exasperation, she cried out, “My stupid computer keeps saying, 'YOU'VE GOT MAIL!”

LITTLE KNOWN FACTS FOR OUR TIME

7/6/2011

Perhaps due to my love for history, I have always been fascinated with the concept of marking time through calendars and dates. Little tidbits like the following come my way ever so often and simply fascinate me. I thought it appropriate to post the following bits of trivia for the first week of July.

As you can see from any calendar page, this year, July 2011, will be unique in our lifetime. It has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays, and 5 Sundays. This only happens once every 823 years. Thus, no one alive now has ever seen this before; nor will anyone alive today ever see this again in his or her lifetime.

Interesting, to say the least. But there is more! This year, 2011, we are going to experience four unusual dates: 1/1/11; 1/11/11; 11/1/11; 11/11/11. This will not happen again for 100 years.

And that's not all... Take the last two digits of the year in which you were born. Now add the age you will be this year. The results will be 111 for everyone in whole world. All of this sort of makes July, 2011 a little unique; does it not?

I am reminded in all of this that God delights in doing unique things. Yes, July, 2011 is unique on the calendar. But so are you. As am I. Indeed, we are all unique in God’s eyes. Not on the calendar, but as human beings. There never has been, and never will be, another you. Nor has there ever been, nor will there ever be again, another me.

Each of us is uniquely created by our God in His image. We are each much more than “one in a million”. Indeed, counting all the people who have ever lived, and who are alive right now, we are closer to “one in twelve billion”! And as such, we each have unique value to God.

I love the stories that Jesus tells in chapter 15 of the Gospel of Luke. There are three of them; and, in turn, they record the value of a single lost sheep, a single lost coin, and a single lost son. In each case, the shepherd, the owner, and the father respectively go to great extremes to seek out and find that which had been so treasured to them, but had then been lost. Once that which was valued had been retrieved, there was great rejoicing.

This reminds me that each one of us has value to God. We might expect that a father would seek out one of two sons who was lost. Or that a woman might turn her house upside down looking for one lost coin in ten. But here, a shepherd left 99 who were all safe to seek only one which was lost. The point is that the value of that which was lost did not decrease proportionately. One in a hundred has the same value as one in ten or one in two. So does one in twelve billion!

This tells me that God cares for each of us individually - so much so that, had you or I either one have been the only person who ever lived and the only one who was then lost, God would have still given His Son to retrieve us from our fallen condition. How’s that for value?!

THE COURAGE TO BE FREE

7/4/2011

As a part of my own Independence Day weekend celebration, I took time to watch the movie: The Patriot. Now I recognize that this is a fictitious Hollywood depiction of the events in and around an authentic historical era. However, I also recognize that Mel Gibson has captured the essence of what it must have meant to our forebears to stand for liberty in the face of political, economic, and religious oppression.

We would all do well to consider the high costs paid by so many for the freedoms we so often take for granted. Because of this, I thought I would post a piece today that reminds us of those costs. The original author is unknown. Numerous copies of this piece, in both longer and shorter versions, can readily be found online.

It has been around for a long time – indeed, copies of it exist in books that I had in my possession long before the advent of the internet. It asks and answers the simple question: “What Ever Happened to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence?” As it does, it provokes a thoughtful response from us with regard to how much we value our own current freedoms.

THE PRICE THEY PAID

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army, another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags. Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton. At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. Thomas Nelson quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. His own home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months. John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year, he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later, he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.

Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: “For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”

They gave you and me a free and independent America. The history books never told you a lot of what happened in the Revolutionary War. We didn’t just fight the British. We were British subjects at that time and we fought our own government! Some of us take these liberties so much for granted… We shouldn’t.

SO TAKE A COUPLE OF MINUTES TO REMEMBER THEIR SACRIFICE SO WE COULD ALL LIVE IN A FREE COUNTRY!

Author Unknown

(Now, as is so often the case, there are those who forever seem to delight in disputing the authenticity of such items. A couple of websites in particular question the information within this piece. Most anyone reasonably conversive in the World Wide Web should know immediately what popular web addresses I am referring to here.

Note, however, when you read such analyses, that the two best criticisms offered against this piece are that: (1) the sufferings of the actual signers of the Declaration of Independence as listed here are only partially true; and (2) many others suffered just as much as the actual signers themselves did.

Of course, neither of these criticisms in any way lessens either the intent or the impact of this thought-provoking piece: freedom can be a costly thing that takes courage to embrace. May we never forget that simple principle.)

WORTHY TO BE FREE

7/1/2011

I don’t know the validity of this story, which was sent to me by a friend recently. It appears all over the internet. But it certainly strikes a responsive chord in my heart as we look forward to Independence Day.

The story goes that a United States Marine was taking some college courses between assignments. He had completed twenty missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the courses had a professor who was an avowed atheist, was a member of a certain prominent civil liberties union, and was an outspoken proponent of his left-wing political views.

One day, the professor shocked the class. When he came in, he looked to the ceiling, shook his fist, and defiantly stated, "GOD, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I'll give you exactly fifteen minutes to come down here and do so."

The lecture room fell silent. A pin drop could have been heard. Ten minutes went by; and the professor proclaimed all the more brashly, "Here I am GOD; and I'm still waiting!"

It got down to the last minute; and the tension was almost unbearable in the room. Suddenly, at the very last instant, the Marine got out of his chair, went up to the professor, and cold-cocked him, knocking him completely off the platform with one powerful blow. Needless to say, the professor was out cold.

The Marine then calmly went back to his seat and just sat there in silence. The other students were shocked, and all sat there looking on in stunned disbelief. Eventually, the professor came to again. Noticeably shaken, he got to his feet, looked at the Marine, and demanded to know: "What in the world is the matter with you?! Why did you do that?!"

The Marine calmly replied, "GOD was too busy today, Sir, protecting American and Coalition soldiers, sailors, and airmen who themselves are busy today protecting your right to act like an idiot and say stupid stuff! So, He sent me to answer your request." The classroom is said to have erupted in cheers!

True or not, the point of this story is well made! Thank God for our troops, especially here at Independence Day. May God bless our service men and women and keep them safe. May we remember that yes, we are free; but only because they are brave! And may we be worthy of the freedom that they and so many others have secured for us at so high a cost!=