The Sword Room

You fifty-somethings will remember that line from the old SNL when Gilda Radner did her Rose Rosanna Danna schtick. But for the past several months I thought I might be in some trouble myself, and the experience gave me an opportunity to evaluate my trust in Christ and assurance of salvation.

Back in October I thought I had pulled a groin muscle on the left side. Gimped around for a few days and then realized the pain was more localized than a muscle pull. Probably a hernia, I thought. The only problem was that there was no bulge or any other sign of a hernia. Then in January, after consuming a pound and a half of Pat’s brisket down at Moose Creek BBQ I began to feel symptoms that indicated an intestinal blockage.

Over the weeks that followed the symptoms became more intense, and I concluded that I needed to have it checked out. Well, there are only a few things that can cause an intestinal blockage, one of which is cancer. So I admitted to myself the very real possibility that I might in fact not be long for this earth. I told no one of my fears, not even my wife Connie, for fear of worrying her. But when I increased my life insurance she became suspicious.

During this time I dropped a few hints to friends and colleagues, one of whom was an adult female I have known for many years and who is not a Christian. I was able to share with her that even though I did not want to leave my family or experience the pain of cancer, I had absolutely no fear of dying itself because I know for sure where I am going when I die–there is no doubt about this. She smiled in a kind of anxious confused sort of way that revealed to me that she could not relate to this at all. Or maybe she thought I was (literally) full of crap.

So I explained to her that my assurance had nothing whatever to do with my own righteousness or lack thereof. I believe the biblical gospel and my trust is in the person and work of the living Christ—100% plus nothing. That didn’t help wipe the confused expression from her face, and even now I wonder what thoughts went through her mind after that. Like most people she probably went on her way and forgot all about it.

During my whole ordeal my mind kept going back to the same Bible verses that have bolstered my assurance over the years:

But to as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name (John 1:12).

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

Truly, truly I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and comes not into judgment, put has passed out of death into life (John 5:24).

Truly, truly, I say to you, He who believes has eternal life (John 6:47).

These things I have written to you who believe on the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know you have eternal life (1 John 5:13).

During these past months I have been at peace in terms of my assurance of salvation, even though at the same time as I look back I can see many wasted hours and opportunities that are gone forever. But at the end of the day I am banking on the Lord Jesus Christ. If I thought my salvation depended in any way upon my own goodness or righteousness I would throw in the towel now and resign myself to a dark eternity.

Honestly, this experience has gotten me back to the bedrock truths of the faith and the person embodied in those truths. And it has enabled me to in a small way be a witness to the pagans I rub elbows with daily. Make no mistake about this: you are not imagining that the world is going to hell in a hand-basket without Jesus. It’s true. And in the daily grind of life these unbelievers do not want to be preached at, especially by plastic pop-evangelicals with their WWJD wrist talismans and Left Behind trash fiction or the false God of The Shack.

One thing I could never quite pull off as a pastor was sitting in meetings with pussy cat preacher boys in their shirts and ties, checking their day-timers and talking about Gwaaaaawd. In my job now I can just be me. I try to be friendly and courteous, and I work hard to do a good job. I do not carry a big Bible or try to hold Bible studies in the lunchroom. I do not invite people to church because, quite frankly, I can’t stand going most of the time, just to hear a few narcissistic praise ditties followed by some dandy bouncing on his toes preaching a watered-down warm fuzzy mouldering crock of the stuff that was plugging my colon.

But when the rubber meets the road It is appointed to men once to die, and after this the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). People are gripped with fear many times as they face their own mortality. When they meet someone whose meaning and hope goes beyond the bad economy or which rich bozo we are going to vote in next November, they sense a peace alien to their own experience. When they meet someone who is not only not afraid to die, but who knows beyond a shadow of doubt that when they are absent from this body they will be present with the Lord, they are faced with the precariousness of their own spiritual condition. I am thankful for the opportunity I had to share in a very genuine way my assurance of salvation with someone I have spent many years building a positive connection with.

The upshot of this story is that I went in and got it checked out. They found four small polyps, which they removed, and a lipoma (a benign fatty tumor that can block the colon). Problem detected and solved. And I do not need to stop eating red meat after all. Praise the Lord!

To those readers who have any doubt about their eternal salvation I urge you to click on the Videos Page of this website and watch the video titled: How to know you have eternal life.

We live in a representative republic with features of democracy. We do not live in a theocracy, as was the case with Old Testament Israel. Israel was forbidden by God from not only the worship of the gods of the nations, but they were also commanded to destroy the worshippers of those gods along with their religious shrines and idols. The first two commandments given in Exodus 20 forbid the worship of gods or graven images of gods other than Yahweh. The reason is stated in Deuteronomy 6:4, where we are told that the LORD is one. In other words there is only one true God and hence one true world created by Him, one true Word (His), and one way of salvation.

We live in a country that was founded at least partially on the concept of the freedom of religion. The First Amendment of our constitution speaks to the issue of state interference in the operations of the churches. Of course back when the framers wrote they did not envision a nation with Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Druids, atheists, and agnostics protected under the First Amendment. But such is the state of affairs in today’s America. Slowly we have been infected with a humanistic kind of thinking that says there are many paths to truth. One man’s path is as good as another man’s. One man’s god, his truth, his holy book (or lack thereof) is as good as the next guys. Some would go so far as saying all the different names for god among the world’s religions are simply different names for the same person.

Have things changed since the Old Testament times in terms of who God is and what he requires? The answer to that question is of course no. We live in a universe not a multiverse. What has held true from of old has not changed in the least. There is still  only one true God, one true moral Law that was decreed by Him and forever settled, one creation (His), and one true people of God. We know from the progressive revelation given in the New Testament that faith alone in Christ alone is the only key that unlocks the door to heaven.

Further, this means that the gods of the nations are dead worthless idols. While many religious systems perform some societal good by the common grace of God, in terms of spiritual merit they are utterly worthless and in fact satanically inspired. Religious leaders like the Dali Lama might be nice people as far as that goes, but spiritually speaking they are utterly and completely bankrupt. They have nothing to say.

Because we live in a representative republic founded on the principles of freedom, as Christians we must take a Libertarian approach to diversity. We must protect the civic right of other religions to practice their idolatrous religions because the very law that protects them in their demon worship also protects the true believer in his worship of the true Lord and Savior.

Just remember this. Ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity are physical realities that should be enjoyed and celebrated because the truth of the gospel transcends these lines of distinction. And besides, where would we be without all the great Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Greek, Italian, and Mexican eateries?

But spiritual diversity sucks. Why? Because in reality it does not exist. There is only one God, one creation, one true word of God, and one gospel. Again, we live in a universe, not a multiverse. You are either on Team Jesus or Team Satan and there is no middle ground. No amount of warm fuzzy maudlin humanistic blabber can erase this simple fact.

Today I was reading in Jeremiah 21. The chapter begins with Pashur, a priest in Jerusalem, incarcerating the prophet. One of the most popular means of silencing anyone who insists on speaking the truth of God’s Word is to lock them up, thereby taking them out of circulation. In Jeremiah’s case he was put in prison and on another occasion thrown into a cistern of mud and left to die. In the early chapters of Acts we see Peter jailed for preaching the gospel. Paul wrote many of his epistles from Roman dungeons.

Another way of silencing people is to threaten them or make them look foolish. Jeremiah was put in stocks and humiliated publicly to where he wanted to give up proclaiming the Word of God. But the compulsion to speak truth was like a fire in his bones and he was weary of holding it in. Elijah ran for his life to get away from Ahab and Jezebel, fearing that if they apprehended him they would kill him, thereby ridding themselves once and for all of his message of judgment.

When imprisonment, threats, and ridicule failed, King Zedekiah tried to get Jeremiah to change the message–make it more positive and uplifting. For every true prophet like Elijah, there were 450 false prophets on the payroll ready and willing to scratch sinners where they itched. The problem is that such false feel good-ism is like a sugar pill that tastes sweet but cannot deliver the needed remedy. We must hear the bad news before we can hear the good news. Against the backdrop of the bad news that we are lost sinners the good news of the gospel seems even better.

On this site I deal almost primarily with men–men who have turned a deaf ear to the Lord, often for decades. They have wasted their lives and fallen for devil’s three trump cards of lust, laziness, and lies. They bave burned through jobs, money, churches, marriages, and children. They have traded away their birthright of blessing for a lousy bowl of soup in the form of booze, dope, sex, porno, and bad counsel. These fellows need the hard truth delivered right between the eyes.

Our whole culture, pop–evangelicalism included–does not need to be coddled any longer with the pabulum of positivism. The truth our nation needs to hear right now will not be addressed by either political party because it cuts against the grain of the flesh. The gospel stinks like a rotting corpse to those who know not the Savior. They want it out of the public square and once they have removed it from the schoolhouse (as they have already) they will head for the churchhouse and work their way all the way down to the outhouse.

Perhaps you have noticed over the past few years that the world is attempting to silence Christians. Mostly by making them feel like slack-jawed jerkwater imeciles living back in the unenlightened Dark Ages. The day will come here in America when preachers will be thrown into jail for spreading harassment ant hate from the pulpit. Our president has already stuffed a gag into the mouths of our Christian chaplains in the armed forces, while making every accommodation for Muslims, Hindus, and Druids.

It used to be easy to stand for the truth of the gospel. It seems to be getting a little more difficult every day. May God raise up a few more Isaiahs, Elijahs, and Jeremiahs for the present hour.

Last Sunday I attended the memorial service of a man who died at age 92. He was healthy, clear-headed, and active until the day two weeks ago he suddenly dropped dead while stacking firewood near his home in Des Moines, Washington.

Once he told me he had never been sick once in his entire life. No cold? No flu? Nope. He explained to me that he had never tasted alcohol or tobacco, never taken drugs, never drank coffee or eaten junk food, except occasionally when he would treat himself to a Dick’s Deluxe burger, fries and Coke. Coke Classic was the only kind of soda he ever drank, and he swore up and down it contributed to his good health and long life. He went to bed early, and rose with the birds in the morning. Made it a habit not to let the sun go down on any tiffs with the wife.

George coached baseball at all levels for many years in the South end of Seattle. His teams went undefeated several times, once for two consecutive seasons. He coached hall of fame Chicago Cub Ron Santo as a kid as well as LA Dodger Ron Cey. At his memorial during the eulogy time at least a dozen men stood and payed tribute to the man whose influence as a coach years earlier had impacted their lives. One was a retail store owner, another a contractor. One had served as a teacher, principal, and school district superintendent.

Sometimes we think it is the big-name preachers like Billy Graham who make the biggest impact, who touch the lives of people. But for every Billy Graham there are a million guys like George who spend their lives influencing others in the every day grind. Most of them have no idea what an impact their actions have had on others.

Somewhere Jesus spoke to this very issue, and since I have no Bible handy I can’t give you the reference. But it is that passage where Jesus’ followers want to know when they ever saw him hungry, thirsty, and naked, and gave him food, drink, and clothing. The point is that the real impact we make is often unknown to us.

Let us be us daily with Jesus living in and through us. Lives will be touched, and the true extent of that impact will come to light when we stand face to face with Jesus.

People who talk too much can be annoying; but what about people who think too much? I have never been accused of the former but many who know me would say I am guilty of the latter. Seems like I am always pondering the meaning of some verse or biblical concept. When I sit in church listening to a sermon I find myself asking exegetical questions about the text and formulating possible answers instead of focusing on the preacher’s words. My thought patterns are the result of nearly four decades of studying and teaching the word. I love to meditate on the word of God and ponder the implications of what it says, even when those implications are difficult to accept or understand.

But when it comes to daily practical living I thank God that it takes little ingenuity to grasp the simplicity of salvation:

“Come now and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “Though your sins are as scarlet they shall be as white as snow; thought they are red like crimson they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18).

When you read the Old Testament prophets you see them thundering against the sins of God’s people. But sprinkled in with the judgments are verses like the one above which present the remedy in very simple terms. Here is where you went astray and here is what you must do to be restored. Repent and turn back to me and I will deliver you and prosper you.

In the New Testament we see the prodigal son coming to his senses. He wakes up and realizes he is living among the swine when the lowest of his father’s servants are well clothed, fed, and sheltered. Having squandered is inheritance on booze and cheap floozies, he imagines that restoration will be a complex and difficult undertaking. He overthinks it. On his dad’s end the only thing that matters is My son is home.

No six months of family therapy. No 12-step disease idiocy. No role pay sessions. No hypnosis. No getting in touch with one’s inner child. Not even restitution for the squandered money. Sound too good to be true? Now you can see why the brother was so pissed off.

So those of us who think too much need to stop and savor the purity and simplicity of devotion to Christ. Perhaps right now you are like that prodigal son, thinking that at some point down the road you will make your way back to fellowship with God. Please do not overthink it–it is not rocket science. Jesus is always knocking at the door, ready to resume fellowship with you with no strings attached.