The Sword Room

Some lauded the Donald’s short-lived stint as a would-be presidential candidate, some scoffed, and others were indignant. But one thing no one did was ignore Donald Trump. Obama’s minions at MSNBC did all they could to portray Trump as a loon, and the wind up dolls on the right were incredulous at the thought of this outsider thinking he could waltz in without cow-towing to them.

Personally I never thought Trump would ever follow though and make good on his threat to run for this nation’s highest office. He basically wanted to blow off some steam. But he struck a responsive chord in those who want a leader who is a no-BS kind of guy, a man who couldn’t care less about political correctness and the derriere-kissing and double talk that has come to be the centerpiece of our do-nothing system. Trump cut through the smoke and said it like it is. When he talked about fixing the economy he spoke as one who has built and run a huge corporation. When he talked about foreign policy he put it simply: We fix our own country before we go play nanny to the world. His solutions were common sense and his strategies simple. Slash spending, cut taxes, don’t fight unless it is to win, and drill baby drill–here and now.

Make no mistake. I am not endorsing Trump. He would not be a good president. He would be an improvement, but that isn’t saying much. The question is, why does Trump resonate with so many? Because people are fed up with politics as usual and they want talk backed up with more than empty promises. There is no doubt that the current political climate is volatile. People wanted change three years ago, and the slick talk of our current president won the day for him. Now that people have seen though him and realize he is in way over his head they feel angry and betrayed.

The political scene is an analogy of the state of the church. I really do not enjoy going to church that much, and here is why. Most churches make music more important than the teaching of the word. There are scores of verses and passages in the NT that speak of the primacy of the communicated word in the assembly. But there are only two parallel passages which mention singing (Eph. 5:18ff; Col. 3:16ff) and these verses tell us that singing should be the result of the word dwelling in us richly, and that it should involve teaching and admonishing as well as praise. What we see in many churches is a long period of singing of shallow praise ditties as a build up for the teaching, which is really just an add-on. I think it would be better to teach the word first, and then once the word of God was dwelling in the hearts and minds of the believers, then sing some appropriate songs as a response to the word.

Recently I went to a church where the singing portion lasted an hour. We were on our feet the whole time, and the songs were repeated over and over. The song service ended in a crescendo of voices repeating the word Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus………..Then there were announcements and a prayer time (another fifteen minutes) before the pastor came up to speak for about twenty minutes. This is pretty much how it goes in any church of any size in our area.

“Good” preaching in today’s church has to be culturally relevant, politically correct, need sensitive, and above all, positive. Don’t piss anyone off or make them feel bad. Unless, of course, they aren’t recycling their paper, metal, and plastic–then go ahead and guilt-trip them to death. Many people will flock to churches where they can hear this kind of teaching, but many others just want someone to get up, open the Bible, and plainly expound it. When they can’t find it, many join cults or follow idiots like Harold Camping. Joseph Smith started Mormonism in an era known for it’s biblical illiteracy and relativism. These are dangerous times politically and spiritually, be not mistaken about that.

On the other hand the opportunity has never been more abundant for the spread of the word. When Jesus came on the scene and taught in the synagogues we read that the people were blown away by His teaching, because He taught with authority–not like the scribes of the day, who endlessly quoted this rabbi or that. Jesus did not cite the rabbis, but instead stated: You have heard it said…..but I say to you…

There is no way I can sit on the sidelines much longer and hide my lamp under a bushel basket. The gifts and calling of  God are without repentance. My style of teaching is from the Donald Trump school–simple and to the point. The Bible is the inspired inerrant word of God and our only source of authoritative revelation on salvation and Christian living. Jesus is the only way to God, and those who do not consciously acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior have no hope of salvation. Pop psychobabble, self-help, fuzzy feel-good-about-me-ism, and hollow platitudes about love winning be damned. When I am asked a sticky question about whether this or that behavior is sinful, I let my yes be yes and my no be no–without qualifiers, like: Yes, but it is no worse than other sins…..after all, we’re all sinners, you know. What nonsense! Is this what you would say if someone asked you if stealing is a sin? Or murder? Or sex with animals? Look, either believe what God says, or go have your ears tickled by some smoldering stub like Rob Bell.

I have no illusions about what the outcomes will look like. But my mind is made up. This old warrior will be back in the saddle soon. No more church done badly for me. No more feeling guilty for stating the obvious. The church needs a few more spiritual counterparts to Simon Cowell.

Or Donald Trump.

This is a valid question, unlike What would Jesus drive? and Who would Jesus bomb? Consulting one’s WWJD wrist amulet to divine the answers to the last two questions is an act of un-discerning spiritual naivety akin to voodoo. You might as well ask what Jesus would order on His pizza, or whether he would go with hot or iced latte’ (or cappuccino) at Starbucks. No one knows the answers to these questions because Scripture is silent; and where Scripture is silent one must ever keep his speculative imagination in check when considering the question of WWJD. A better question to ask would be WDJD–What did Jesus do? Or better yet, WDSSJD–What does Scripture say Jesus Did? Scripture even addresses to a limited degree the questions of WIJDN–What is Jesus doing now? and WWJDITF–What will Jesus do in the future? In fact the last of these options does give us a few hints as to whom Jesus might bomb (2 Peter 3) or what He would ride (Rev. 19).

But the question of what Jesus would pray is different: we are on solid biblical ground here. The gospels are replete with examples of Jesus’ prayers. His prayers were so striking that in Luke Eleven the disciples, after watching Him praying, asked that He teach them to pray. What follows in that passage is a summary of what He taught them, including what we call the Lord’s Prayer.

One entire chapter (John 17) is a lengthy prayer of Jesus, uttered on the night of His betrayal and recorded for our edification. Here we are on solid ground when considering the questions of WDJD and WDSSJD.

The first thing I notice is that instead of bowing His head and closing His eyes, the Lord turns his gaze heaven-ward when He prays. No big deal, just a little different from the standard ancient near east prayer posture–prostrate with face to the ground.

The next thing that strikes me is the content of the prayer. Jesus is about to be betrayed into the hands of those who hate Him, and He knows it. He is fully aware of the mocking, beatings, and crucifixion which lay ahead. And yet His prime request is that God be glorified (vv. 2-5). He prays not for the world but for the elect believers God has given Him. He prays that they might experience oneness (vv. 11, 21-23) and joy (v. 13). He does not pray that they will be removed from the hatred and hardship of the world, but rather that they will be kept from the evil one (v. 15). He asks that they will be set apart by the sanctifying power of God’s Word (vv. 17-19).

It boils down to two things: (1) the glory of God, and (2) the edification of God’s elect believers. Next time you pray think about this prayer of the Lord. Nothing wrong with coming to the Lord with personal needs. The Lord’s prayer instructs us to pray concerning daily bread and the like. We have physical and emotional needs and He cares about them with great empathy (Heb. 4:14-16). But a truly Christ-like prayer includes a desire for the glory of God and the growth of fellow believers in grace.

How many of you fear hell? If you are not born again I would say that to a degree such fear is good because it is realistic. It shows you are not in denial about your eternal destination without the regenerating and justifying work of Christ in your heart. There is nothing healthy or wise about a man turning over and sleeping through multiple warnings that his house is on fire and he needs to get out. Wait too long and it will be too late–you will be like Bin Laden when the choppers landed and the Seal team stormed the compound.

But what about you professing Christians? If you are genuinely born again does the fear of hell have any practical benefit? I would say for the most part such fear is worthless in terms of sanctification, and it says nothing definitive about your spiritual condition, except that you do not love God. More on that later; for now suffice it to say this: light a field on fire and every disease carrying rat and venomous snake will flee the flames. But once they make it to safety they will still be vile vermin by nature. When the time comes for the devil himself to be thrown into the lake of fire, you can bet he won’t go willingly.

On the other hand the devil would hate heaven because God will be there and he hates God. Same with the unregenerate. You see salvation is not just an eternal fire insurance policy. It involves a real internal change of our desires and affections. Such a change does not result in a denial of the reality of hell and/or a belief in universalism, as in the case of Rob Bell and others. But the transforming work of the Spirit in the life of a born again Christian creates a love for God that crowds out fear of punishment like rocks displace a bucket-full of water.

This is what I believe John meant in his first epistle when he spoke of being perfected in the love of God and how perfect love casts out fear. The believer loves because he knows he is loved–but he does in fact love the true and living God. Cultivating this love of the God of Scripture  is the key to overcoming the fear of hell. If you are not saved (and sometimes even if you are) you will mistakenly think you must somehow make yourself more righteous through a system of goodness or works. Then you can feel good about you and at least for a season the fear of hell will vanish, only to return when you mess up (which you will).

You cultivate the love of God by absorbing His word through reading, study and meditation; or by reflecting on His self-disclosure in the creation; or by praying in the name of Jesus by the power of the Spirit; or by fellowshipping with others who love Christ and by sharing the good news with those who don’t know and love him. You grow in your love for Him by trusting Him enough to obey His commands–not out of a negative motive of fear, but from the positive place of heartfelt love.

David loved the Lord, and he messed up at least as much as Arnold Shwarzeneggar, Bill Clinton, John Edwards, and Charlie Sheen–maybe even combined. No excuse for sinning, but yes, you will not love the Lord perfectly, even as you will never love your wife and kids flawlessly. But you will pick yourself up because you know God does not lie when His word promises that nothing will separate you from His love. As you respond to this by growing daily in your love for Him the fear of hell will not be an issue.

Many of us prefer small group fellowship. Personally I have always gravitated away from large gatherings of people and actually feel anxious in crowded malls and airports. When I find myself feeling uneasy in such situations I usually try to make some kind of connection with one person. As crazy as it sounds, I feel less alone if I can make that kind of connection. You may have heard about feeling alone in a crowd; well, it really happens.

Then there is the alone-ness we experience when we are literally in solitude. My mother-in-law lives alone in a small town called White Bird, Idaho. She comments often about how hard it is after decades of marriage and raising kids to live alone in this area, whose lanscape savors of the lunar surface. I meet young twenty and thirty something men and women daily who are single or divorced and desperately lonely. I remember how lonely I was before I met Connie, and it was a real bummer. Really, it sucked worse than almost anything I have ever experienced.

On the other hand, we all like to have personal time. Right now I am sitting in my dark (and unfortunately cluttered) man-cave enjoying a cup of black coffee as I write this blog. This is great quality time for reflection, prayer, reading the word, or going to the dump, as I will be shortly. But we need to understand such alone-ness in context. I enjoy these times because I know tonight I will enjoy dinner with a wife. I know I will have a house full of grandchildren tomorrow and that I will go back to work on Monday and see my clients and colleagues again.

But alonen-ness would really seem different if that’s all there was. Recently I met a young single mom with a toddler, and the daddy of the child nowhere to be found. She told me she fears being alone for the rest of her life. No one to kiss goodnight or enjoy coffee with in the morning. No one to share her thoughts, hopes, and dreams with. No one to go out on dates with, to fix dinner for, or make love to. When you are truly lonely as she is, one-night stands are like a dry bland rice cake when you are hungry for a brisket sandwich. True, she has her child, but parenting a toddler is not the same as a deep lasting relationship with another adult. I have a friend who is single and pushing fifty. He lives alone except for his dog, and the dog is nearly fifteen and on his last legs. This man is clearly lonely. Although he is set in his ways and actually enjoys many aspects of the solitary life, he cannot live without connection with others. We enjoy some really great times of fellowship over coffee or on the phone. Or discussing theology at the gym.

Imagine what it would be like to live in a place where it was just you. No other human beings–or beings of any kind. Just you. You had every creature comfort available to you. The best food, drink, clothing, shelter, toys, and entertainment. But no hope forever of having any connection to another living breathing person. In such a context I would think alone-ness would be of the very essence of hell itself. Forget the flames–who needs them? Even the most committed medieval monk would hate such an environment, for at least in the desert monastery there are other monks counting beads–or whatever monks do during their vows of silence.

So during those personal moments when you have time to yourself, take time to thank God for those special people in your life who give context and meaning to your alone-ness. Above all else, realize that it is your personal connection with the living person of Jesus that makes all these other relationships better because we recognize them as gifts from Him.

I don’t mean the actual travel to and from church, although sometimes that is a problem too. I am referring to my weekly struggle to fight boredom and stay focused.

Maybe it’s the Chistianese jargon–We trust today that as you linger in our midst, your hearts will be warmed and filled from the spiritual bounty of…

Maybe it’s the praise ditties I am unfamiliar with.

Maybe it’s the fact that the preacher has a pultpit voice that sounds nothing like his normal speaking voice. Or that he bounces on his toes too much. Or that he can go from laughing to weeping on a dime. Or that this past Sunday one of the pastors went out of his way to greet me as if I was a stranger, even though I have known him for over thirty years. Or that there is a prayer every few minutes but very little sound teaching.

Church is effeminate and wimpy. 70% fermales. Soft lighting, pastel colors, songs about falling in love with Jesus. Sermons about how we are like little lost kitties in a tree and Jesus climbs up to rescue us. I guess I am a bit too picky, but why doesn’t someone just get up on Sunday morning, open the Bible, and just teach what it says? I know there are a few guys out there who still do this, and their congregations are small and filled mostly with older guys like me. The Bible really isn’t that relevant any more–not even for professing Christians.

I did not hear a single word of praise that Bin Laden took two bullets to the head last week. What’s with that? OK, no spiking the football, but I can’t see totally ignoring it.

My kind of church would be a place where they would have rough wood decor, almost no singing, and straight Bible teaching. The service would last maybe an hour, and they would have landjaegers rather than latte’s in the foyer. If they did have a men’s group there would be no standing around the campfire holding hands, no s’mores, and NO CRYING! Every time  turn on my television there is some big strapping guy weeping, blubbering, lips quivering, like that big baby Mark McGwire. Well, maybe some crying would be allowed, but it better be for a good reason–like your favorite UFC fighter got knocked out–not that you got caught lying about steroids.

Seriously–you guys have to admit that if you are like me it is hard to go to church and stay focused. I left church last Sunday and made up my mind to not say anything negative–after all it was mothers day. On the way home I tried to emphasize the positive points, but my wife saw right through it.

I am seriously considering opening my home to have people over one night a week for simple informal fellowship around Jesus Christ and His word. There are a few small churches in our community but I know that if I get involved I will have to deal with the political power structure, and, well thanks but no thanks.

No longer will I guilt trip over this. I meet so many believers every day who feel like I do and the fellowship I have with them beats anything I experience sitting for an hour looking at the backs of heads. Not saying I will not attend church again. I know regular worship and fellowship is vitally important. I just don’t know what it will look like.

Someone suggested recently that I hang up a shingle and start teaching. Problem is that soon it would become a “church” and it would be about worship teams, kids programs, mother-daugher teas,  budgets, board meetings, work days, and all that. (Not that I wouldn’t mind a good pot luck or two.)

I might leave this post up for a day to see if it generates attestation by two or three witnesses or vigorous rebuke.

You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life (John 5:39-40).

Searching the Scriptures is a noble practice. We are told that the Jews in Berea were more noble than those in Thessalonica because they searched the Scriptures daily (Acts 17:11). We do well to study the Bible and form our world view from its teaching. Sound theology is going by the wayside in this relativistic age and giving way to paganism and pragmatism. You will never find a man more stubborn about  need for sound doctrine based on diligent study of Scripture than Yours Truly.

But the Bible is about Jesus Christ, the source and sustainer of all life. The Jews in Jesus’ day prided themselves in their knowledge of many details of the Old Testament Scriptures. But they missed the central character–Jesus Christ. You may find such a statement odd, since that actual name is nowhere found in the Hebrew Bible. But all the ceremonial laws and observances of the Levitical system foreshadowed the person and work of the Messiah. Not only that: Jesus identified Himself in many places in the gospels as the Yahweh of the Old Testament. The testimony of Jesus was writ large on every page of the inspired documents. To miss this is to miss life, for Jesus is the only one who can impart eternal life to the sinner. No one was ever regenerated apart from Him or the merits of His work as Mediator. When Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, the spiritual life he received issued forth from Christ. Abraham had less Scriptural knowledge than the Jews of Jesus’ day (seeing how no Scripture had yet been written), but based on the revelation available to him, he trusted the pre-incarnate Christ.

Paul tells us in Philippians Three that he was on the cutting edge of the Judaism of his day. He was a rabbi, or teacher. It was his job to know the Scriptures inside and out. The problem was that for all his knowledge he missed Jesus, and in so doing he missed the life that comes only from Him. When he looked back on those bleak days before he knew the Lord he said that by comparison its worth was on par with skubala (Greek word for dung). No amount of power, prestige, pleasure, or profit (the preacher in me could not resist the alliteration) is worth knowing the true and living Jesus of the Bible. A head full of facts is but a temporary stroke to the ego without Him.

As Christians everything we do is tainted by sin. We do not often fully understand our own motives and reasons for our actions. I can tell you that as I look back over my life I can see that much of what I have done supposedly in the name of the Lord was done out of selfish motives and desires to appease guilt, feel better about me, pamper my ego, or gain one-up-man-ship. What’s in it for me?

Here’s what’s in it–for me and you. As the first question in the Westminster Shorter Catechism says: What is the chief end of man? Answer: The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Enjoy! Did you see that? Like the woman at the well of Samaria we get tired of the daily grind of walking to and fro to the well to fill our heavy earthenware jars, just to have to repeat the process again and again. Our spiritual thirst is never satisfied by what we do for ourselves. Jesus offers us living water in Himself. Jesus is the whole point of the Bible and of our very being for that matter.

Search the Scriptures for the right reason. Meet Jesus in the pages of the Bible and through His present intercessory ministry. I remember how before I was a believer the Bible on the shelf in my room was dry and meaningless. Once I knew Jesus it became a living book, and I would feed on it for hours just to learn about Him and experience His life-giving presence. Then I somehow got away from the main point of studying and learning. In the past two years I have actually regressed in a good way toward that childlike faith I once had. I still love to read My Greek New Testament as much as possible. But now I’m looking for Jesus. And when I find Him I seem to shed the baggage and feel spiritually invigorated, kind of like that Dylan song where the hook line is, I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.

It’s all about Jesus.

Today I received an email from a young twenty-something Christian male asking me to remove my youtube video, Masturbation and the Bible. In this video I explain the Bible’s silence on the issue and further discuss how it is an issue of one’s faith and conscience. This young man related his testimony of enslavement to pornography before he was saved. When he was saved he stopped masturbating completely. Then about a year ago he watched my youtube video and started masturbating again. From here he ended up feeding on porno again, and he believes my video caused him to stumble.

Personally I disagree with this. Scripture does not condemn all drinking of alcoholic beverages. If I teach this on a video it does not automatically give someone with a history of drinking problems a green light to indulge. My understanding of the Christian liberty principles of Romans 14 and 1 Cor. 8 tells me it would be wrong to drink in front of such a person, just as it would be wrong to eat idol meat before a weaker brother saved out of a life of idolatry. In my video on masturbation I did not encourage anyone to masturbate; I simply explained that it is not forbidden directly in scripture and that many young men over the years have been under a needless cloud of guilt because they engaged in the dastardly deed.

Still, I have agreed to remove the video from youtube–not because I think it is a bad video, but because I do not want to give anyone an excuse for evading responsibility for their own choices and behaviors. But before I remove it I would like to know from you if you think this would be a wise or necessary measure on my part. Here is the video below for your review. Please tell me if you believe I err in my thinking. And pray for this young man’s spiritual condition. May the Lord strengthen him to stand in this sex-saturated culture.