Russell Mckinney's Blog

Straight Talk About God and Life

Got Your Baptismal Certificate With You?

This past Sunday at Disciples Road we observed the two ordinances that God has given the church: the Lord’s Supper and believer’s baptism. The Lord’s Supper points us to Christ’s death. Believer’s baptism points us to His resurrection. Each ordinance hinges upon a right understanding of its symbolism. If we don’t get the symbolism, the reason for the ordinance will be lost upon us.

The symbolism of the Lord’s Supper isn’t hard to understand. The bread symbolizes the body of Christ, that physical, human body that hung dead on the cross for the sins of the world (Matthew 26:26; Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19). The wine symbolizes the blood of Christ, the blood that coursed through that body, the blood that has the power to cleanse sin (Matthew 26:27-28; Mark 14:23-24; Luke 22:20). As Christians eat the bread and drink the wine, we proclaim Christ’s death until He returns (1st Corinthians 11:23-26).

The symbolism of believer’s baptism isn’t complicated either. However, Christians seem to have more trouble grasping it. Baptism is a two-fold object lesson. First, it shows what has happened in the Christian’s earthly existence. Second, it shows what has happened in the Christian’s eternal existence.

Concerning the earthly existence, when the Christian goes under the water he publicly says, “I am now dead to my old, sinful way of living” (Romans 6:1-3). When he comes up from under the water he publicly says, “I am now alive to walk in the newness of the Christian life” (Romans 6:4, 6-7, 11-23).

Concerning the eternal existence, when the Christian goes under the water he publicly identifies himself with Christ’s death and burial (Romans 6:4). When he comes up from under the water he publicly identifies himself with Christ’s resurrection (Romans 6:5, 8-10). You see, by submitting to baptism, the believer says, “Because Jesus died and arose from the dead, my body will one day be resurrected as well, and I will enjoy my resurrected body throughout eternity.”

But it is that symbolism involving the Christian’s earthly existence that I want to deal with a little more. Christian, what if the minister who baptized you caught you committing a sin and said, “You are certainly not living up to your baptism.” You would probably ask, “What do you mean?” He would reply, “When you went under the water that day you were saying, ‘I am now dying to my old, sinful way of life.’ When you came up from under the water you were saying, ‘I am now alive to walk in the newness of the Christian life.’ But what you are doing right now looks like your old way of living, not the newness of the Christian life.” How would that make you feel? Would it drive home the point that getting baptized is a BIG deal? Would it remind you that the Christian is supposed to shun sin and live differently than the rest of the world?  

Perhaps it would do us good if every Christian was required to wear his baptismal certificate around his neck. That way we could be constantly reminded of exactly what it was we committed to when we got baptized. Maybe us pastors need to carry copies of those certificates around so that we can pull them out whenever we see a Christian sinning. That would make for an interesting experiment, wouldn’t it? My guess is, it would cut down on the rate of sin quite a bit.

July 28, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | Baptism, Choices, Christ's Death, Christ's Resurrection, Commitment, Crucifixion, Disobedience, Doing Good, Dress and Appearance, Holiness, Personal Holiness, Rebellion, Sin, Temptation, The Lord's Supper, obedience | , , , , | Leave a Comment

What Love For Jesus Looks Like

Harry Winston, the famous New York diamond dealer, once heard about a wealthy Dutch merchant who was looking for a certain kind of diamond to add to his collection. Winston called the merchant, told him that he thought he had just the stone, and invited the man to come to New York to examine it.

The collector flew to New York and Winston assigned a salesman to show him the diamond. As the salesman presented the diamond he pointed out all of its exquisite features. The merchant listened attentively but finally turned away and said, “It’s wonderful stone but not exactly what I wanted.”

Winston, who had been watching the presentation from a distance, stopped the merchant and asked, “Do you mind if I show you the diamond again?” The merchant agreed and Winston presented the same stone. However, instead of talking about the stone’s fine technical features, Winston spoke of his genuine admiration of the diamond and what a rare thing of beauty it was. When he was finished, the merchant changed his mind and bought the stone.

While he was waiting for the diamond to be packaged and brought to him, the merchant asked Winston, “Why did I buy it from you when I had no difficulty turning down your salesman?” Winston answered, “The salesman is one of the best in the business. He knows more about diamonds than I do, and I pay him a good salary for what he knows. But I would gladly pay him twice as much if I could put something into him, something I have and he lacks. You see, he knows diamonds, but I love them.” 

Our churches are home to all kinds of people who know Jesus. They know about His deity, His virgin birth, His sinless life, His miracles, His teachings, His death on the cross, His resurrection, and His ascension. But so many of these people don’t really love Jesus, at least not in the way that Jesus wants them to love Him. He isn’t the all-consuming passion of their lives. He isn’t their single, driving force. They don’t seek His will above their own in every decision and circumstance. 

The story of how Jesus restored Peter after Peter had denied Him three times is recorded in John 21:15-19. I won’t go into the story’s details, but the foundational question Jesus asked Peter was a simple one: “Do you love me?” Isn’t it amazing how the answer to that question can change everything about a situation?

A professing Christian is addicted to pornography. Jesus comes and asks, “Do you love me?” Another is addicted to alcohol. The question is the same: “Do you love me?” Another is considering having an affair. The question is not, “Do you love your spouse?” It is, “Do you love Me?”

You see, if the answer to the question is an honest “Yes” the sinful conduct must stop. If it doesn’t, the person’s love obviously isn’t really for Christ; it is for the sin. The heart of Christ’s question is, “If you truly love Me, you’ll stop doing this. Your love for me will  override your love for this sin.”

A father asked his wayward daughter, “Do you love Jesus?” The daughter answered, “Yes, I do.” The man responded, “I guess you think you do.” She replied, “No, I really do love Him.” The father said, “Well then, let me ask you something else. Suppose you come to me and say, ’Dad, I love you,’ but then you go out and directly disobey me. Could I honestly believe that you love me?” The daughter, already sensing where the father was headed with his logic, sheepishly answered, “No.” “How then,” said the father, “can I believe that you love Jesus when I see you each day do things He forbids?” Then the man put an exclamation point on his line of reasoning by quoting Christ’s words from John 14:15: “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

I dare say that no text in all the Bible needs to be preached to today’s professing Christians any more than those simple words: “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” You can be a lover of Jesus or a murderer, but you can’t be both. You can love Jesus or you can commit adultery, but you can’t do both. If you covet some thing or someone that belongs to another, you forfeit your right to say, “I love Jesus.” Let us never forget that Jesus isn’t impressed with lip-service. When He looks for love, He looks at conduct. To Him, they are one and the same.

July 25, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | Choices, Commitment, Disobedience, Doing Good, Holiness, Personal Holiness, Priorities, obedience | , , , , | 1 Comment

Beer and Boycotts

Our little town of Spruce Pine recently voted to turn “wet” by allowing the sale of beer and wine inside the city limits. Needless to say, this was major news. Many of the churches of the area banded together and put up a real fight. In the end, though, the vote passed by a slim margin. 

One of the primary reasons why it passed was the fact that the entire county hadn’t been “dry” for a long time. For decades, bootleggers prospered in these parts. Then came a couple of restaurants that were located close enough to the Blue Ridge Parkway to get special exemptions to sell spirits. Finally, our local golf course erected a pitiful looking little tennis court that allowed it to claim the coveted title “sports club.” That title carries with it the legal permission to sell beer and wine on the premises. It didn’t take long for a package store to be built in the course’s parking lot and to became one of the region’s top money-makers. Of course, we’re still waiting for someone to actually play a tennis match on that court.

And so Spruce Pine now has beer and wine running out its nose. The Wal-Mart Supercenter stocks the stuff, as does the Ingles grocery store. A vacant building has been chosen as the site for an ABC store, and some of our restaurants have begun offering beer and wine on their menus. This is where our local pastors’ conference comes into the story.

Most Monday mornings I attend the conference. We meet at 10:00 a.m., shoot the bull for a few minutes, take some praise reports and prayer requests, have a time of prayer, and then listen as one of us preaches a sermon. We dismiss after the sermon, choose a place to eat, and meet at that restaurant. We vary where we eat because no one wants to eat the same food over and over again.

A few Mondays back I couldn’t attend the conference, but I found out later that the guys had eaten at the Mexican restaurant in downtown Spruce Pine. We’d gone there plenty of times before, but this time was different. This time the restaurant offered beer and wine on the menu. The fellows didn’t think too much about it, but somehow the word got out that the local pastors didn’t mind patronizing joints that served booze. This is where our local paper comes into the story.

Our paper features a controversial section called “Rants and Raves.” The idea is that any anonymous person can use that section to register a complaint or a compliment. The complaints seem to outnumber the compliments about four to one. I guess if you want to compliment someone you don’t mind leaving your name.

Well, one “Rants and Raves” piece was a rant about the local pastors frequenting a restaurant that offered beer and wine. I don’t know how the person spotted the guys. Did he or she see them going in or out of the restaurant? Did someone else pass along the information? I certainly hope the person wasn’t in the restaurant himself or herself when the pastors were in there. That would be hypocrisy.    

Anyway, this is where one of the pastors comes into the story. An elderly gentleman, one we all genuinely like and respect, was scheduled to preach the following Monday morning. Before he began his sermon, he commented on the rant and, from everything we could tell, agreed with it. I figured he could do so because he hadn’t eaten at the restaurant. (All the pastors don’t always come along for the after-conference meal).

The man quoted from 2nd Corinthians 6:14-18, parts of which say: “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?…’Come out from among them and be separate’, says the Lord. ‘Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.’” He also quoted from 1st John 2:15: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 

To really drive home his point he told us that he no longer shopped at the local Ingles because of the beer and wine on the shelves. He didn’t mention the Wal-Mart Supercenter, but some of us were dying to ask if he still shoped there. No one did, though.

After the conference, we got together to decide where to eat. Even though the elderly pastor didn’t plan to go with us, you can imagine that it didn’t take long for someone to say, “I guess the Mexican place is out!” We ended up eating at a little ”mom and pop” spot where the burgers are great and there is no beer and wine. Over the course of the meal, the conversation naturally turned to the question of whether or not a Christian should frequent a business that sells alcohol.

None of us at the table that day took the position that a Christian should totally boycott such establishments. To us, that was being too extreme. Consider these facts:

#1: While it’s true that we Christians are not to be “of the world,” we are still very much ”in the world” (John 17:14-18). Paul said that the only way to totally get away from sinful people would be to go “out of the world” (1st Corinthians 5:9-10).

#2: Since Jesus frequently ate with and associated with those whom the legalists considered “sinners,” Biblical separation obviously doesn’t mean monk-like isolationism. 

#3: The truth is that many good students of the Bible (including this writer) do not believe that it totally forbids all alcoholic consumption. Drunkenness? Certainly. All partaking of alcohol? No. I could cite several examples here, but I’ll limit myself to one. In 1st Timothy 5:23, Paul says to Timothy, “Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine for your stomach’s sake because of your frequent illnesses.” If the wine was just grape juice, Paul wouldn’t have advised drinking just a ”little.” (By the way, please don’t read into this that I’m glad that our town now has legal beer and wine. I’m simply trying to interpret the Bible as accurately as I can.)     

Here’s something else to consider: the incredibly complex and interwoven nature of America’s companies and corportations. Many years ago, when I was the pastor of a Southern Baptist Convention church, the denomination formally called upon its churches to boycott the Walt Disney company because of Disney’s homosexual CEO and its increasingly troubling products. However, since Disney also owned ABC, ESPN, and movie production companies such as Touchstone, Hollywood, and Miramax, boycotting it meant boycotting a fairly large slice of life.

Our local news is broadcast on channel 13, which is an ABC station. The biggest basketball game in our state is Duke-North Carolina, and ESPN always carries that game. Touchstone Pictures produced the wildly popular kids’ movies ”Pirates of the Caribbean” and “The Santa Claus.” Hollywood Pictures produced one of my all-time favorite movies, “Mr. Holland’s Opus.” Miramax, under its Dimension Films subdivision, produced the “Spy Kids” movies. You see, if you are truly going to boycott Disney, you’re going to have to work at it.

The same applies to a thorough boycotting of alcohol. My two boys love to watch Albert Pujols hit, but I guess they would have to stop watching. Why? Because Pujols plays for the St. Louis Cardinals, who for years were owned by Anheuser Busch. As a matter of fact, the home stadium Pujols plays in still bears the name Busch Stadium. (Along the same lines, the Colorado Rockies play on Coors Field.) Do you enjoy watching NFL games, NBA games, college football games, and Nascar races? I hope not because they are all built around money from beer companies. Any ideal boycott must take all of this into consideration. 

And what about that “mom and pop” burger place where we ate? Do they buy their hamburger buns, soft drinks, napkins, or ketchup from Ingles or Wal-Mart? Even if they buy their buns directly from a bread company such as Sunbeam, Sunbeam sells its bread at Ingles and Wal-Mart. Doesn’t that require what some preachers call “secondary separation”?

You see, we get into a real quagmire when we start boycotting every business that we categorize as “bad.” If I want to go to a movie theater and see an uplifting, Christian movie such as “Flywheel,” “Facing The Giants,” or “Fireproof,” I can’t. Remember, that same theater shows some movies of which I disapprove. If I want to take my son’s baseball team to a minor-league game as a reward for a good season, I can’t. That minor-league park sells beer at the concession stand. Do you understand what I’m getting at? To use an Ernest T. Bass word from the Andy Griffith show, you just can’t hermatize yourself.    

Now let me tell you how this story ends. After the pastors’ conference yesterday, we decided to go to the local Japanese restaurant and enjoy their lunch buffet. I thought, “That’s a good choice. I’ve never seen any beer or wine in there.” As soon as we got in the door, though, I read a sign that offered an inexpensive glass of wine as a part of the lunch special. Then, when the waitress took us to our seats, I noticed a hallway where several empty beer boxes were stacked up next to a wall. Clearly, beer and wine had come to the Japanese restaurant. I guess we’ll just have to wait for the next edition of the paper to find out if we got busted.

Maybe, from now on, my fellow pastors and I just need to eat at McDonalds. I do love Big Macs. Oh, wait, Busch Stadium has a special section of seats called “Big Mac Land.” If a homerun lands there, everyone in the section gets a free Big Mac. To make matters worse, that section got its name from Mark McGwire, the former Cardinals slugger who hit so many balls up there. McGwire is highly suspected of using dangerous steroids to increase his homerun power. 

So, if McDonalds associates itself with an alleged cheater and a stadium named for a beer company, I suppose we shouldn’t let them have one dime of our money. Besides, some of those toys they put in their happy-meal boxes are promotional products for kids movies, and many of those movies are made by Disney. Boy, it all sure does get confusing, doesn’t it? It makes me want to say, “Hey, Ernest, how exactly does one go about hermatizing one’s self?

July 21, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | Christian Liberty, Holiness, Personal, Personal Holiness, balance, separation | , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

The Blessing Of Changing A Sermon

Two Sundays ago I had in mind to preach a sermon on prayer. Specifically, I planned to preach on the so-called “Lord’s Prayer.” But as I began to ease into my studying and preparing for that sermon, the Lord made it clear that He wanted me to preach something else. He commanded a sermon on salvation.

The text He told me to use was Matthew 7:21-23, where Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” Since preachers are always being told how important it is to grab the listener’s attention with the sermon’s introduction, I opened up with these words: “You can die and go to hell from a seat in church just as much as you can from living in a box in some rat-infested alley, taking your meals out of a garbage can.” Pretty attention-grabbing, huh?

From there I proceeded to explain that the person who has experienced genuine salvation will evidence that experience in his or her conduct. The state of being saved will show up in the way the person lives life. As James 2:20 so succinctly puts it: “faith without works is dead.” Good works can never produce salvation, but salvation will inevitably produce good works. Good works can never flow into salvation, but they must flow out of it.

This doesn’t mean the person who gets saved will never sin again. Romans chapter 7 is the Bible’s best passage on why saved people (Christians) still sin. There Paul explains that the Christian has two inner natures that are constantly at war. On the one hand, at the moment of salvation, God the Holy Spirit comes to live inside the Christian’s body, and the Spirit brings the nature of God to the person. That nature seeks control over the person, a control that will lead to deeds of righteousness. But, on the other hand, even when the Spirit comes to indwell the individual, His presence doesn’t eliminate the individual’s old nature (the nature with which everyone is born, the nature of Adam). This nature also seeks control over the Christian, a control that will lead to deeds of sin.

The point is, though, that the truly saved person will evidence salvation, to some degree, in his or her life. Some Christians evidence it more than others because they handle the Romans chapter 7 set-up better, but every Christian must evidence it somewhat. That was my central message.

As part of the sermon, I walked the listeners through the plan of salvation. I told them that salvation required a head knowledge of certain facts:

Fact #1: There is a God. Psalm 14:1: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”

Fact #2: God is thoroughly holy. Psalm 47:8: “God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne.”

Fact #3: You are a sinner. Romans 3:10,23: “There is none that is righteous, no, not one…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Fact #4: Your sin separates you from God. Psalm 5:4: “For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You.”

Fact #5: Jesus (God the Son) left heaven, came to the earth, took human form upon Himself, and ultimately died on a Roman cross for all the sins of the world (and that included all your sins). 1st Timothy 2:5-6: “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all…”

Fact #6: On the third day after His burial, Jesus arose from the dead and eventually ascended back up to heaven. Matthew 28:5: “…the angel answered and said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen…’”

Once you have these six facts settled in your mind (you believe them, you agree with them), then you have to get your heart involved. It is with your heart that you must voluntarily, willfully, purposefully place your belief in Jesus as your personal Savior. In Acts 16:30-31, a jailor in the city of Philippi asks Paul and Silas a straight question: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” The answer they give him is, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” And then Romans 10:10 shows us that this belief must be from the heart. That verse says: “…for with the heart one believes unto righteousness.”

Please understand that the Bible uses different terminology to describe this saving belief. It speaks of coming to Jesus, opening the door to Jesus, putting your faith in Jesus, trusting in Jesus, and calling upon Jesus. But these aren’t separate experiences. They are just different ways of describing what it is to believe in Jesus in a saving way. Salvation is not a process; it is a moment-in-time experience.

But now let me get back to my story. What were the results of my sermon on salvation? Well, at the close of that Sunday-morning service, I got no response. That was a little disappointing, but I thought, “Lord, I obeyed and preached what You told me to preach. That’s all I can do. I’m sure You had Your reasons for having me preach that today.” Then I put the sermon out of my mind and went on about my business.

The following Monday was an especially busy day. I hardly stopped all day. Even at 7:00 that night, I had to have Ryan at baseball practice for his all-star team. I’m an assistant coach on that team, and the practice lasted for over two hours. Ryan and I got back home around 9:30. I was whipped.

No sooner had I gotten in the door than Tonya said to me, “We need to talk.” Royce, our eight-year old, was sitting in her lap. The whole scene made me respond, “Oh, no, what do we need to talk about?” She said, “It’s nothing bad.” That calmed my fears, but I was still a bit apprehensive. We ended up taking Royce back into his bedroom, where Tonya explained to me that he wanted to get saved. My sermon had bothered him. He didn’t want to go to hell; he wanted to go to heaven. He wanted Jesus to forgive him of all his sins and be his personal Savior.

And what did I do? Right then and there I took him by his hand and said, “I’m going to pray and I want you to repeat what I say.” Then I led him through a version of what you might call “a sinner’s prayer.” I kept the focus on the basics: sin, Christ’s death, belief, and forgiveness. Don’t ever force a child to become a Bible scholar to get saved. That child has the rest of his or life to learn all the finer points of Christian doctrine. Just keep things simple and anchored to the basics. That will do just fine.

Since I never want to rush a child into the waters of baptism, I’ll wait a while before baptizing Royce. Over the coming weeks, I’ll talk with him some more and make sure that he really does know Jesus as his Savior. Then, when the Lord tells me he’s ready, I’ll gladly baptize him. In all honestly, though, I have full confidence that the little fellow experienced authentic salvation that Monday night. What a glorious thing that is! As a father, there’s nothing better than knowing that both my sons are now Christians. 

And now, as I finish up this post, I want to leave you with a word. That word is obedience. Just as I obeyed God by changing my plans and preaching that sermon on salvation, you must obey God and do what He is telling you to do. Even if you don’t fully understand it or agree with it, you must obey. If He is giving you a command, He has His reasons and they are good ones. I’m not saying that your obedience will lead to someone getting saved, but, you know, you just never can tell.

July 15, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | Belief, Change, Children, Christ's Death, Christ's Resurrection, Disobedience, Forgiveness, Parenting, Personal, Reward, Seeking Forgiveness, Sin, The Holy Spirit, obedience, preaching, salvation | , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

Maybe So, Maybe Not

Last week I wrote a blog entitled “Let’s Get Real.” In that blog I questioned why God allows Satan to win so many battles, even though I have no doubts that God has already won the eternal war. The post was about being honest with God. If we don’t understand what He is doing, or agree with it, we shouldn’t shy away from expressing that to Him in prayer. After all, how can prayer be real if it isn’t honest?

A few days later I was digging around in my files looking for something on a completely unrelated subject. In my digging I came across a story that I had saved from about a year and half ago. James Merritt, the pastor of Cross Pointe Church in Duluth Georgia, used the story on one of his t.v. broadcasts and I jotted it down after hearing it. Since it applies to questioning the way God handles things, I thought I’d share it with you as a companion piece to “Let’s Get Real.”

There was an old man who was known as the wisest man in a certain village. Whenever someone wanted council they would go see this man. One day a farmer went to him and said, “A horrible thing has happened to me: My ox died. I’m a farmer and I depended upon that ox to get my fields plowed and my crops planted. Now I can’t plant my crops and I’m going to starve. Do you agree that this is the worst possible thing that could have happened to me? The wise man said, “Maybe so, maybe not.”

The very next day the farmer looked out his window and saw a strong, sturdy horse come galloping up to his farm. The farmer wouldn’t have tried to catch the horse if he had still had the ox, but the ox’s death led him to go out and catch the horse. It turned out that the horse was much younger and stronger than the ox and could plow ground much faster. Because of this, over the next couple of weeks, the man was able to plant twice as much as he would have been able to plant with the ox.

The man went back to the wise man and said, “I owe you an apology.” Then he told him the story about the horse. He finished the story by saying, “You were right. My ox dying wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened. It was a blessing in disguise. The best thing that could have happened to me was getting this horse.” The wise man said, “Maybe so, maybe not.”

Three days later the farmer’s son took the horse out for a ride. But the horse threw him and the fall broke both of the son’s legs. Since the young man was the only worker the farmer had to help him get in his crops, the farmer was devastated. He went back to the wise man and said, “How did you know that me catching that horse was not going to be a good thing? My son getting both his legs broken has to be the worst thing that ever happened to me.” The wise man said, “Maybe so, maybe not.”

The very next day troops came to the village to take every young man away to fight a war that had just broken out. The only young man who wasn’t taken was the farmer’s son who was laid up with those two broken legs. Tragically, a few days later the village got word that every one of those young men had been killed in that war. Makes you think, doesn’t it?

My search through my files also uncovered two quotes from the late, great evangelist Vance Havner. First, Havner said, “God marks across some of our days, ‘Will explain later.’” Second, he said, “…all question marks will be straightened into exclamation points.”

So, how does this “Maybe So, Maybe Not” piece walk hand in hand with the ”Let’s Get Real” piece? The answer is, let us be honest enough with God to question Him or disagree with Him, but at the same time let us be humble enough to admit that His wisdom is infinitely superior to our’s. Another quote I like is, “Even when I can’t track Him, I can trust Him.”

We all need to be reminded of that, don’t we? Our knowledge and understanding are so limited. We don’t know what the next second holds, to say nothing of the next day, week, month, or year. But God does, and He can be trusted to always do right. Remember this the next time you’ve got a problem with the way He is handling things. I’m going to take my own advice and try to do it too.

July 12, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | Adversity, God's Will, Patience, Problems, contentment, faith, perseverance, trials | Leave a Comment

Straight Talk About God’s Will

Well, I’m happy to report that my book, Straight Talk About God’s Will, is now officially out and about. If you live in the Mitchell county area, you can purchase it at “Dellinger’s Christian Book and Gift Shop” in Spruce Pine or “Something Special Gift Shop” in Burnsville. If you don’t live in this area you can purchase it through online sites such as amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and textbooksrus.com. Jebaire Publishing is currently working to upgrade their website, but eventually the book will be available through them too. If you’d like to read a sample chapter, you can do so at this blog site.

I wrote the book to help the person who is standing at a crossroad in life. A decision has to be made. A direction has to be chosen. Which path is God’s way? Which direction is pleasing to Him? What is His will in this specific decision? Most of us have stood at one of these crossroads. If you haven’t, keep living, you’ll arrive there shortly.

The book’s chapters are as follows:

1. Something I Must Say

2. The Place to Start

3. The Desires of Your Heart

4. Getting Help From the Bible

5. Open Doors You Shouldn’t Walk Through

6. Open Doors You Should Walk Through

7. Seeking Counsel From Others

8. Putting Out A Fleece

9. Proving God’s Will

10. Inner Peace: Don’t Do Anything Without It

11. Waiting and the Will of God

12. Big Wind and Big Waves 

These chapters are all very much Bible-based and plenty of scripture is used. But I’ve also woven in various illustrations that are relevant and helpful. Some of them come out my own experiences in discerning and doing God’s will. At the end of each chapter, there are three application questions to help you apply the chapter to your specific decision. All in all, I think you’ll find the book very readable and, I pray, abundantly beneficial.

It’s a cliche’ to say, “If one person is helped by reading this book, it will have been worth writing it.” The fact is, though, that cliche’ applies here. The “Lord’s prayer” begins with the words, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed by Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Obviously, there is a kingdom element to those words. No matter how much good we Christians do in this world, God’s will isn’t going to be done on the earth the way it is done in heaven. But my prayer for the book is that God will use it get His will done more upon the earth. If He uses it to help just one person choose His will in just one decision today, that makes life on earth a little better today than it was yesterday.

I’d like to write a whole series of Straight Talk books: Straight Talk About Prayer, Straight Talk About Marriage, Straight Talk About Parenting, Straight Talk About Church, Straight Talk About Bible Study, etc. But we’ll see how this first one sells. I couldn’t ask for a better editor than Shannon Clark. She has been outstanding through the whole process. She’ll do her part and I’ll do mine. In the end, though, God is sovereign. If He wants me to write more books, He’ll have this one be successful enough to warrant another one. If He doesn’t, then it’s enough that I’ve already written one more than I ever figured to in life.

As a part of my contract, I received five free copies of the book. As I stood there holding them, I couldn’t help but think of the immense amount of work that it took to get us to that point. When I showed them to my boys, Ryan took one and immediately started flash flipping through the pages. I said, “You have no idea how many hours, days, weeks, and months of work it took just for you to be able to stand there and do that.” He just grinned and stopped flipping.

I am so grateful to God that He gave me the gift, experience, insight, burden, and time to write the book. I’m also grateful that He led the folks at Jebaire to publish it. Since this whole project has been His from day one, I know that He has His hands on it. That doesn’t mean that the book will become a best-seller, but it does mean that God will use it to suit His purposes.

Eric Liddell won the gold medal in the men’s 400 meters at the 1924 Olympics in Paris. That story is famously told in the movie Chariots of Fire. Liddell was a devout Christian who went on to serve as a missionary in China for many years. On the subject of his running, Liddell said, “I believe that God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast. When I run, I feel His pleasure.” I can truthfully say that I feel God’s pleasure when I write. That’s why I do it. It’s not to make big money or a name for myself. I write because I know it’s something God wants me to do. And, in the end, that’s all the motivation I need.

July 11, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | Choices, God's Will, Personal | , , , , | Leave a Comment

Let’s Get Real

I’ve always been particularly fascinated by the story found in Luke 13:10-17. It’s the story of a woman who was stricken with a “spirit of infirmity” for eighteen years. The result of this infirmity was that she was constantly stooped over and couldn’t straighten herself up at all. She was a walking cripple.  

What’s so fascinating to me is the stated source of this woman’s pitiful condition. When verse 4 speaks of that “spirit of infirmity,” it is saying that a demon (fallen angel) kept this woman in that state. In verse 16, Jesus even calls the woman, “a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound - think of it – for eighteen years.”

I’m not trying to be blasphemous, but it seems to me that the woman spent eighteen long years as a prisoner of war in Satan’s hands. Sure, Jesus healed her, but that didn’t take away the painful memories of those previous eighteen years. Why would an all-powerful God who despises the works of Satan sit up in heaven and watch one of Satan’s fallen angels afflict a decent woman for almost two decades? Someone responds, “It was because He knew that she would meet up with Jesus one day and He would cure her.” Well, that’s a nice little pat answer, but it doesn’t give that woman those eighteen years back.

Let’s just be honest and admit the obvious: Even though Satan is surely destined to lose the war, God lets him win a lot of battles. Think about Job. God won that war, but Satan left his scars on Job. Even if God completely healed those sore, running boils with which Satan struck Job from head to toe, He didn’t resurrect those seven sons and three daughters that Job lost. Yes, He gave Job seven more sons and three more daughters, but do you think that Job ever forgot the names and faces of all those kids that died?

I realize that we don’t usually speak this bluntly when we talk about God. I suppose we are scared to sound even remotely critical of Him. But God isn’t afraid of a straight word that seems to call His actions (or lack of them) into question. I offer Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus, as proof. Each of them, on different occasions, pointedly said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:21,32). Jesus didn’t rebuke either of them for saying that. He simply continued along in His timing and plan to raise Lazarus from the dead.

Of course, that story has a happy ending. Furthermore, the delay until that ending is only four days. But what do we do with a delay of eighteen years? That’s how long the woman from Luke 13:10-17 had to wait for her miracle. You know, I’ve heard plenty of preaching in praise of Christ’s miracle-working power, but I want to hear a sermon on why Satan got to have his way with that woman for that many years.

You say, “Well, why don’t you preach it yourself?” I would, but there’s one thing that keeps me from doing it: I don’t have the answer to the question myself. You see, I’m not writing this blog to share some profound insight with you, an insight that nobody else has ever shared. I’m writing it to get you to be more real with God.   

The prophet Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh and preach. That’s what got him enrolled in “whale seminary.” Finally, after he had preached to Nineveh and Nineveh had repented to the point where God stayed their destruction, Jonah “got real” with God. With anger he prayed, “Lord, wasn’t this what I said when I was still in my country? I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm” (Jonah 4:1-2).

Basically, Jonah was saying, “God, I knew you would let these people off the hook. I even said it back in Israel. So why did you make me come all this way and go through the motions of prophesying destruction upon them when you and I both knew that You wouldn’t carry through with it?” Say what you will, but that kind of prayer inspires me. It inspires me to talk to God like I’m talking to a real person. It inspires me to dare question Him if I don’t agree with the way He is running the universe. It inspires me to show my anger and disillusionment over what He has done or hasn’t done.

Perhaps my favorite story from the book of Genesis is found in Genesis chapter 15. God comes to Abraham (Abram) and says, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” That sounds good, doesn’t it? But Abraham, at that point in his life and walk with God, was tired of hearing such talk. The way he saw it, God had reneged on a promise to him. For over a decade, Abraham had been waiting on God to grant him a promised son, but his wife Sarah remained barren.

Because of this Abraham’s response to God’s good words were direct and to the point. He said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!” Allow me to put that in Russell paraphrase. Abraham said, “Yes, Lord, that’s all well and good, but can we talk about the pink elephant in the room? You have given me no offspring.“

And how did God respond to that criticism? Did He get hysterical or mad? Did He launch into a fifty-point defense of Himself? No. He just calmly reiterated the promise one more time: “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” 

So, in closing, let me leave you with two thoughts. First, there are some things about God’s actions that we won’t understand until we get to heaven. Why did He let Satan hold sway over that woman for eighteen years? Why did He let Satan claim the lives of Job’s first ten children? Why did He let Lazarus die and put that family through all that grief? Why did He make Jonah go pronounce doom on a nation of people He was going to spare in the end? Why did He make Abraham and Sarah wait twenty-five years for their promised son? I don’t know. We can all ask Him when we get to heaven. Until then we’ll have to be content with Isaiah 55:8: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.

Second, let’s not shy away from being “real” with God when we talk to Him. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). If that statement means nothing else it must mean that God takes no pleasure in a dialogue that showcases half-truths and outright lies. He doesn’t want fake niceness. He doesn’t want fake contentment. He doesn’t want to listen to our typical prayers and think, “Why don’t you tell me how you are really feeling?!!!” And it is only when we speak with such honesty that we can enter into the deepest kind of prayer to Him.

July 7, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | The Devil, prayer | , , , , , | 1 Comment

Play Your Piccolo

Acts 6:1-7 gives the account of an election that was held by the early church. The apostles instructed the church members to choose seven men. These seven had to be much more than “casual Christians.” They had to be of a good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit, and full of wisdom. They would be given the assignment of overseeing the daily distribution of food to the church’s widows.

Many consider this to be the first election of deacons. This interpretation is debated, but I, more or less, have always gone along with it. What’s sad is that in the debate over the interpretation, and in the subsequent debate over the qualifications for deaconship, a major point is missed altogether. That point is: The apostles said, “It is not right that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.”        

Listen, the Bible is a very complex book and it takes a ton of study to teach it correctly (2 Timothy 2:15). Such study requires time, and lots of it. It also requires much prayer and focus. All of that is hard to achieve when a man is expected fill his day with visiting the sick, evangelizing the lost, counseling the troubled, attending meetings, etc. Is it any wonder, then, that the New Testament so plainly teaches that each and every Christian is to help out with the work of the church?

Passages such as Romans 12:1-13, 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, Ephesians 4:11-16, and 1 Corinthians 14:26 show us that God doesn’t expect all the work to be done by a precious few “spiritual elites.” He gifts every Christian with at least one spiritual gift and says, “Go and try to wear it out through use.” A spiritual gift is a skill or talent that the Christian did not have before the moment of salvation. The Holy Spirit imparted the gift to the Christian the moment the Spirit came to indwell the Christian. Many Christians receive more than one spiritual gift, but each Christian receives at least one.

Here again, though, the church has made the mistake of getting all bogged down in how to interpret the spiritual gift passages. Does God still impart all of the different kinds of gifts or were the so-called “sign” gifts only for the days of the early church? I’ve got an opinion on that question of interpretation, as do others. But in all of the debating and arguing we seem to have completely overlooked the idea that every Christian is supposed to do his or her part in the work of the church.

Ephesians 4:11-12 says that Jesus gave some to be apostles, some to be pastors, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers. And why did He give these people? He did it “for the equipping of the saints.” And why do the saints (Christians) need to be equipped. It is “for the work of the ministry.”

I couldn’t even begin to estimate how many times I, as a pastor, have had to abandon my Bible study and sermon preparation to go do something that some other member of the church could have done. You see, that other church member couldn’t prepare a sermon and preach, but he or she could have done the other job. Such situations don’t just hurt me as a preacher who tries to do a good job in the pulpit; they hurt the entire church.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, the apostle Paul compares the functioning of the church to the functioning of the human body. He says that if a foot doesn’t do its job because it wants to be a hand, that hurts the whole body. If an ear doesn’t do its job because it wants to be an eye, that hurts the whole body. If the whole body is one big eye, the work of hearing doesn’t get done. If it is one big ear, the work of smelling doesn’t get done. What a marvelous illustration!

Sir Michael Costa, that noted composer and conductor of another day, was once conducting a rehearsal with a large number of performers and singers. The mighty chorus was singing out in perfect unison, the organ was thundering, the drums were rolling, the horns were blasting, and the cymbals were clashing. In the midst of that din of noise, one piccolo player began to feel very small and insignificant. He thought to himself, “In all this sound it doesn’t really matter whether I play or not. Nobody will notice if I just stop.” And so he stopped. Immediately, however, the great conductor brought the entire undertaking to a screeching halt, threw up his hands, and cried out, “Where is the piccolo?”

That story makes me think of God. I can just picture Him leaning over heaven’s balcony, listening to the volume of noise that rises up as the church goes about its work. But, unlike Michael Costa, God doesn’t just miss the sound of one player who isn’t using his gift to carry out his assignment. No, God misses thousands, even millions, of spiritually-gifted people who simply aren’t doing the jobs they are supposed to be doing. 

So tell me, Christian, how is your piccolo playing these days? Are you using your spiritual gift (gifts) in service to Christ? Are you carrying your weight with the work of the church? Or does the Lord only hear silence coming from your chair? Speaking as a hard-working part of the orchestra, let me just say that we need your piccolo. If you won’t play it, somebody like me will have to pick up the slack. And, frankly, I’ve got plenty of my own work to do.  

        

July 2, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | Bible Study, Doing Good, God's Work, Work, preaching, spiritual gifts | , , , , , , | Leave a Comment