Russell Mckinney's Blog

Straight Talk About God and Life

Follow Up To “Church Or YBOA Basketball?”

In March of last year, I wrote a post entitled “Church Or YBOA Basketball?” In that post, I explained how my son Ryan’s participation in Youth Basketball of America was causing him to miss some of our Sunday morning church services. I concluded the piece by saying that I had made the decision that Ryan would no longer miss any church services over scheduling conflicts with his YBOA team.

Well, so far this year Ryan’s team has played in two tournaments. In the first one, we played three games on Saturday and one at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. Since our church services begin at 10:30 a.m. and end at roughly 11:45 a.m., Ryan was able to attend church and still be at his game on time. So far, so good.

But things didn’t work out so convienently this past weekend. Ryan’s team played two games on Saturday and was scheduled again for 12:00 p.m. Sunday. Now I had to put my money where my blog was. It wasn’t an easy decision, and I did reexamine the whole issue before making it, but when the dust settled I stuck to my guns. Ryan missed the game, but we had an excellent church service.

On Thursday of last week, I wanted to talk to Jeff, Ryan’s coach, after practice. My plan was to hand him a printout of the blog post, ask him to read it, and then call me. But Jeff was too busy talking to other folks for me to have such a moment with him. So, I just left the printout in the seat of his truck with a little note asking him to read it. I called him later that night but couldn’t get in touch with him. He got my message, though, and called me the next day.

Jeff and I had a good ten-minute talk in which I explained that my decision to sit Ryan out had nothing to do with him as a coach. I said, “This is between me, Ryan, and the Lord.” Jeff understood completely and we even talked about ways in which the situation could be prevented from happening again. He said he is going to think about asking the tournament directors to let our team just play three or four games per Saturday and not come back on Sunday. That plan has my vote, but we’ll see what comes of it.

For the record, our team lost that Sunday game. That’s the bad news. The good news (at least for me) is that we lost by a wide enough margin so that no one could say, “If Ryan had been there, we would have won.” Since he is a starter, I figure that his presence could have helped some. But when you get beat by 23 points, I’m not sure Kobe Bryant could save you. 

There was one thing that surprised me about my decision not to let Ryan play. I had two different people make a point of saying that they didn’t expect Ryan to play because they had read the blog post and remembered it. When I found that out, I was glad that I hadn’t waffled on my decision. That would have caused me to lose some credibility.  

In the end, I don’t know how the rest of our season is going to play out. All I know is that I’m going to do my best to continue to honor the commitment I felt the Lord led me to make last March. Hopefully, we either won’t be scheduled for any more Sunday games or they will tip off late enough for us to get Ryan there after church.

Again, the idea of playing all Saturday games is very appealing to me. Of course, since Sunday is always the day the tournament champions are crowned, we wouldn’t be able to actually win a tournament. To me, though, that is a small price to pay to give nine boys and their parents the opportunity to build their Sunday around church instead of YBOA basketball.

February 24, 2010 Posted by russellmckinney | Character, Children, Choices, Church attendance, Parenting, Personal, Priorities, Sports, church | , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

No Church Today

We had to cancel church today due to our second big snow in six weeks. Whereas the December storm dumped a foot on us, this one only gave us six or seven inches. I suppose we should be grateful that the weather guys missed the forecast a little. We were supposed to have gotten a foot again.

I really do hate cancelling church. The fact is, I could get there. I have not one but two all-wheel-drive vehicles and am pretty good at driving on snow and ice. I could get the parking lot scraped too. My brother-in-law, Ben, has a big blade on his jeep and volunteers to handle that job for me.

So why cancel? I do it because I don’t want anybody getting hurt by trying to get to church on a wintry morning. If one car ended up in a ditch, I’d feel terrible. If one elderly person slipped and broke a hip while getting in or out of a car, I’d feel terrible. If one mother’s feet gave way and she went down while holding her child, I’d feel terrible. I know that we are not supposed to live in fear of what could happen, and I’m really not a “doom and gloom” person. But I don’t think God wants us to completely abandon common sense in some misguided, fanatical zeal about never missing a church service.

As I listened to the church closings on our local radio station this morning, it became obvious that 95% of the pastors took the same cautious approach I did today. No church was having regular services. One was only having an 11:00 worship service. A couple were having one 2:00 service this afternoon. But 95% just cancelled everything.

For me, a Sunday morning without church is like a basketball court without goals. It’s just not right. I’m not one of these people who secretly cheers when church gets cancelled. (Seriously, if you are such a person, you need to do some soul searching and figure out why getting to “legally” skip church excites you.) And it’s not just the fact that I want to preach. It seems like I’m always preparing sermons or preaching them. The thing is, I really do miss the fellowship and community of church. I enjoy being around my brothers and sisters in Christ. I enjoy them being a blessing to me and me being a blessing to them.

Oh well, my prayer on days like today is that cancelling services will help the members realize how much they enjoy coming to Disciples Road Church. It’s the old “absence makes the heart grow fonder” thing. I don’t ever want church attendance to become rut or ritual to them. I don’t even want it to become mere ”religion.” Christianity got off track when it became a religion. It was always supposed to be a relationship, a relationship between the believer and Jesus. And as a integral part of that relationship, the believer is supposed to attend church on Sunday, the first day of the week, as a way of celebrating Christ’s resurrection on that Sunday morning so long ago. Yes, Christians are supposed to do that celebrating every Sunday, not just Easter Sunday.

On a completely different note, I did get one bit of good news this morning. My scales weighed me at 187 pounds. So, I’ve lost 14 pounds in 20 days since I started my diet and exercise program. If you want to know the specifics of how I’m doing it, go back and read the post entitled “It’s Diet Time Again.” 

My goal is still to get somewhere between 175 and 180 pounds. From there I’ll just be trying to maintain. I’ve been in that range before, and I’ve even held it for a couple of years, but it doesn’t happen naturally. What naturally happens is me drifting back up over 200 pounds. Since I know that full well, maybe I can prevent it from happening this time and stay at my ideal weight. Now if I can just figure out a way to safely have church after a big snow on Saturday. That one is a little more problematic.            

January 31, 2010 Posted by russellmckinney | Christ's Resurrection, Church attendance, Easter, Personal, church, dieting | , , , , | No Comments Yet

Christianity In Shoe Leather

In my last post, “For His Name’s Sake,” I talked about how a Christian’s conduct has a direct effect upon Christ’s reputation in the world. If that conduct is sinful, that does harm to Christ’s name. Now let me give you a practical example that will help you to better understand this.

Let’s say that a man who isn’t a Christian goes to buy a used car. He walks onto a car lot and has a salesman come out, grinning from ear to ear. The salesman says, “Can I help you?”

The man says, “Yes, I like the looks of this car right here. Is it a good car?” The salesman says, “I’ll let you in on a little secret. Just between you and me, this car is the best buy on the lot. It is mechanically as sound as a dollar. I wouldn’t mind taking off cross-country in this car.” But even as those words roll off the salesman’s lips, he knows they are a lie. The mechanics have told him that the car’s engine needs to be completely rebuilt. 

Well, the trusting potential buyer takes the car out for a test-spin. The car does alright on the short test drive, and the man decides to buy it. The salesman says, “Step into my office, and we’ll sign the papers.”

As they step into the office, the buyer notices that hanging on the salesman’s office wall is a beautiful picture of Jesus. He also notices that the salesman has a little plaque on his desk. The plaque reads, “Christ is the answer.” The man says to the salesman, “I gather that you are a Christian.” The salesman says, “Oh yes. I’ve been a deacon in my church for twenty years.”

The man says, “Well, if you can’t trust a deacon, who can you trust?” The salesman says, “That’s right. You can trust me. That car is just a little bit too old to have any kind of warranty, but I’ll take care of you. If you have any trouble with the car, just bring it back to me. I’ll make things right. You have my personal word on that.”

So, the papers are signed and the deal is done. The man just bought himself a car. He climbs into it, starts it up, waves to the salesman, and pulls off the lot. He gets about two miles up the road when the smoke starts pouring out of the hood. Luckily, there is a garage right there on the corner. The man pulls into the garage, and the mechanic takes a look at the engine. The mechanic says, “Sir, I hate to tell you this, but this motor is completely shot. It needs a total rebuilding.”

Upon hearing that, the man immediately marches the two miles back up the road to the car lot. He finds the salesman in his office. He says, “Pal, you sold me a lemon. I drove that car two miles and the motor blew up. I want you to keep your word and make things right.”

And what does that used-car selling deacon do? He says, “Sir, I feel awful about this, but our policy is that all sales are final. And since the car doesn’t have a warranty, I’m afraid that there isn’t much I can do for you.”

You say, “Boy, that car-buyer won’t think much of that Christian salesman.” You’re right. I’ll tell you something else: He won’t think much of Christ either! He’ll say, “If that’s what being a Christian is all about, the Christians can have it. I can do better than that on my own. Who needs a Savior who can only produce that kind of behavior?”

This is why I say, Christian, that you are called to live your faith wherever you happen to be at the time. If you go around claiming to be a Christian, you’d better act right. If you have a tag that says “Christ is my co-pilot,” you’d better be honest. If you have a bumper-sticker that says “Honk, If You Love Jesus,” you’d better pay your bills. If you wear a shirt that says “My best friend is a Jewish carpenter,” you’d better watch your language. Why? Because it is the very name of Christ that is at stake!

You can call this “Christianity in shoe-leather.” It is bringing your Christianity down out of the clouds of doctrine. It is pulling your religion up off your church seat. It is transforming your spirituality from principle into practice.

And how do you do it? Each day that you wake up, you spend time in prayer and say, “Jesus, today, wherever I may go, whatever the day holds for me, lead me in the paths of righteousness. You be the guiding shepherd; I’ll be the obedient sheep.” Nothing less will do if you really want Christ to guide you into paths of righteousness.

January 11, 2010 Posted by russellmckinney | Backsliding, Business, Character, Discipleship, Doing Good, Holiness, Influence, Personal Holiness, church, obedience, salvation, submission | , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

Constantine & Christmas

(Post 2 of a series of 4)

With yesterday’s post I began a series on the origins of the traditions of our Christmas holiday. That post explained the winter solstice and the Roman holiday known as Saturnalia. Now, with today’s post, I need to say some things about a Roman emperor named Constantine.  

Constantine became one of the emperors of the Roman empire in the year 306. Six years later, in 312, he found himself at a pivotal point in his war against his brother-in-law and co-emperor, Maxentius. According to the historian Eusebius, it was on the day before a crucial battle at Milvian Bridge that Constantine prayed to God and asked for divine assistance.

As the story goes, Constantine then saw in the noonday sky a vision of a cross of light. The cross was superimposed upon the sun and written on the cross were the words in Latin “in this sign you will conquer.” That night Constantine had a dream that reaffirmed his vision. Supposedly, in the dream, God told him to use the sign of the cross in all of his battles. So, the next day Constantine added the sign of the cross to his flags, and his army went on to win the battle at Milvian Bridge.

A short time after that, in 313, emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan. That Edict made Christianity legal throughout Constantine’s empire. This meant that Christianity went from being a despised and persecuted religion (which is where the New Testament record leaves it) to being an accepted and even highly favored part of Roman religion.

The fact is, over the years of his reign, Constantine took Christianity even further than that. With the help of the bishops of the church in Rome, he made Christianity nothing less than the state religion of the Roman empire. He lavished gifts upon Christian leaders. He made Sunday a holiday so that people, especially his soldiers, could attend church. He made Christian clergy exempt from government duty. He made churches tax-exempt. He even personally funded the construction of several lavish, ornate church buildings. In Constantine’s view, his Rome and the Christian church should be as close as possible.

All of this, of course, ultimately helped to bring about the financial, political, and religious empire that we know as the Roman Catholic Church. And therein lies the great debate about Constantine. Was he, as some contend, a true Christian who was used by God to greatly serve the cause of Christianity? Or was he, as others contend, a lost man who was deceived by Satan and greatly used by Satan to corrupt Christianity? The answer you get depends upon who you ask.

One of the most serious problems that people have with Constantine’s supposed salvation is in the area of how he handled Rome’s pagan festivals. Rather than outlawing those festivals, Constantine, with the help of the bishops of the church in Rome, “Christianized” them. A prime example of this is what happened with Saturnalia and the Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun. Rather than forbidding the observance of those days of pagan celebration, Constantine and the bishops simply changed the meaning of the days. The festival of Saturnalia, which ran from December 17th through December 24th, went from being about the birth of the sun to be about the birth of the Son. Likewise, December 25th changed from being the Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun to being the birthday of the Son of God.

Please don’t think that December 25th is our best guess for the actual date of Christ’s birth. The Bible doesn’t tell us the exact date of His birth, but we can say with virtual certainty that it wasn’t December 25th. We can say that because the Bible does tell us that those shepherds and their sheep were out in the fields that night. In Israel the month of December is usually cold and rainy. During that month, shepherds normally keep their sheep penned up in sheepfolds. Furthermore, Luke chapter two says that Joseph and Mary made their trip to Bethlehem to register for the purpose of paying taxes to the Roman government. Such registrations weren’t usually decreed during the cold winter months because travel was just too difficult. Nevertheless, despite these Biblical roadblocks, Constantine and the bishops of Rome went ahead and made December 25th the official date that was given to Christ’s birth.

So what am I saying? I’m saying that the very idea of a holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus was really just a way to claim Saturnalia and December 25th for Christianity. I’m saying that the idea of the world annually celebrating December 25th as the date of Christ’s birth came from the mind of Constantine and the bishops of Rome. I’m saying that it was Constantine and those bishops who linked the celebration of Christ’s birth up with days off from work, parties, evergreen wreaths, and the exchanging of gifts. And that’s where I’ll leave the story until my next post. 

　

December 4, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | Catholicism, Christmas, Christmas Traditions, Origins of Christmas Holiday, church | , , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

Five Good Questions About Water Baptism

There is much debate and confusion concerning water baptism. This is sad because the subject is such an important aspect of Christianity. Only by going to the Bible and studying all of the passages that relate to the issue can we get at the truth. When we do this, we find the answers to five fundamental questions.

Question #1: Who Is Qualified For Water Baptism? 

The Bible plainly teaches that only born-again Christians can rightly submit to water baptism. To be born again, one must put saving belief (faith) in Jesus Christ (John 1:12-13; 3:3; 3:16-18; 1st John 5:1). Born-again Christians are people who have heard the gospel of Christ, seen themselves as sinners bound for hell, understood that Jesus died to pay the debt for their sins, and genuinely believed in Him as their personal Savior. This belief (faith) in Jesus brings eternal forgiveness and salvation to the individual (John 3:16; Acts 10:43; Romans 1:16-17; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 2:8-9; 1st John 5:1,13).

Such “believers” are qualified for water baptism because they have experienced Holy Spirit baptism (Matthew 3:11; John 7:37-39; Acts 1:5; 10:44-48; 1st Corinthians 12:13). Holy Spirit baptism is God the Holy Spirit taking up residence within the person who has put saving belief in Christ. This happens at the initial moment of the saving belief. Actually, it is Holy Spirit baptism that produces the “new birth” that makes one a born-again Christian. It is nonsense for people to claim to be Christians if they haven’t experienced Holy Spirit baptism (Acts 11:15-18; 15:6-8; Romans 5:5; 8:8-11, 8:14-16; 1st Corinthians 6:19; 2nd Corinthians 1:22; 3:3; 5:5; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:13-14; Ephesians 4:30; 1st Thessalonians 4:8; 2nd Timothy 1:14; 1st John 3:23-24; 4:12-13).

All of this means that the common practice of baptizing infants is wrong. Likewise, it is equally wrong to baptize any adult who hasn’t put legitimate saving belief in Christ. The fact is that anyone, regardless of age, race, or religion, who hasn’t been baptized with the Holy Spirit has no business whatsoever being baptized in water. This is why water baptism is oftentimes rightly referred to as “believer’s baptism.”

Question #2: Does A Person Have To Submit To Water Baptism To Be Saved?　

The answer is, NO. In the New Testament there are over two-hundred verses that teach that salvation comes through belief (faith) in Christ. Many passages use the word “faith,” while others use words such “belief,” “believe,” or “believed.” Obviously, these words are interchangeable.

If water baptism played any part whatsoever in salvation we would find it consistently mentioned in the Bible whenever the plan of salvation is presented. What we find, however, is the exact opposite. For example, the apostle Paul said that he didn’t do much baptizing (1st Corinthians 1:13-17). He also didn’t mention water baptism when he gave the Corinthians his definition of the gospel (1st Corinthians 15:1-11). Paul’s words and actions seem very strange if water baptism is required for salvation. Paul was like Jesus, who Himself didn’t baptize anyone (John 4:1-2).

It’s true that Peter mentioned water baptism in the invitation he gave in his sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:37-38), but he didn’t mention it in other sermons he preached (Acts 3:12-26; 5:29-32; 10:34-43). As a matter of fact, the Bible even points out that those who were saved after hearing the Pentecost sermon were saved by belief (Acts 2:44).

To contend that water baptism is vital to salvation is to create two plans of salvation. The people of the Old Testament age, not being baptized, would have been saved in a different way than the people of the New Testament age. Furthermore, the believers who lived during Christ’s earthly life did not experience Christian baptism. This group included the apostles. Many of these believers were baptized in the Jordan river by John the Baptist, but John’s baptism was not Christian baptism. When an individual was baptized by John, that individual was simply making a public profession of repentance (Matthew 3:4-12; Mark 1:4-5; Acts 10:34-37; 18:24-25; 19:1-5). This repentance was supposed to prepare the individual to accept the Messiah, who was soon to come and offer salvation (Matthew 3:11-12; Luke 7:24-30). This explains why John was hesitant to baptize Jesus (Matthew 3:13-14). John knew that Jesus had no sins to repent of and that He was the Messiah.

Still, despite the fact that they did not experience Christian baptism, the Old Testament believers and those who believed during Christ’s earthly life were saved (Psalm 23:6; Luke 7:37-50; 23:39-43; Hebrews 11:1-40). There is even an entire chapter (Romans chapter 4) of the Bible that is devoted to the teaching that salvation has always been through saving faith in the one, true Lord.

Question #3: Why Should The Christian Submit To Water Baptism?

Water baptism is a beautiful object lesson. First, it shows what has happened in the Christian’s earthly existence. In going under the water, the Christian is publicly saying, “I am now dead to sin” (Romans 6:1-2; 6:6-7; 6:11-14). The waters of baptism have even been called “a liquid tomb.” In coming up from under the water, the Christian is saying, “I am now alive to walk in the newness of the Christian life” (Romans 6:4; 6:6; 6:8; 6:10-14).

Second, water baptism shows what will happen in the Christian’s eternal existence. In going under the water, the Christian is publicly identifying himself or herself with Christ’s death and burial (Romans 6:3-5; 6:8). In coming up from under the water, the Christian is publicly identifying himself or herself with Christ’s resurrection from the dead (Romans 6:5; 6:8-9). By submitting to water baptism, the Christian is saying, “I know that Christ will not leave my body in the grave. My body will one day be gloriously resurrected, just as His body was” (1st Corinthians 15:20-24; 15:42-50).

Understanding how water baptism is a two-fold object lesson makes it easy to see why Jesus commanded that those won to Him should submit to it (Matthew 28:19). The Bible even says that a Christian can be saved from a guilty conscience toward God only by submitting to water baptism (1st Peter 3:21). If the Christian refuses water baptism, he or she will eventually feel guilty about the disobedience (Luke 6:46; John 15:14; James 4:16).

In the days of the early church, those who believed in Christ as Savior were expected to immediately submit to water baptism (Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:37-41; 8:12; 8:26-40; 9:17-18; 10:44-49; 16:14-15; 16:25-34; 18:8; 19:1-7). Keep in mind that the early Christians had no church buildings, pews, aisles, or altars. Therefore, a public water baptism was a profound way for an individual to openly show that he or she was believing in Christ as Savior (Matthew 10:32). For that matter, it still is!

Question #4: What mode of water baptism is correct?　

Total immersion is the only mode of water baptism that is described in the Bible. This is plainly seen in passages which describe John the Baptist’s baptisms as well as Christian baptisms (Matthew 3:13-16; John 3:23; Acts 8:35-39). The modes of sprinkling and pouring are not scriptural.

Keep in mind that the object lesson is what makes the mode so important. Water baptism is supposed to show the Christian’s death and burial to sin as well as Christ’s own physical death and burial. Total immersion in the water is the only mode that truly pictures death and burial. When we bury a corpse, we don’t just sprinkle or pour a bit of dirt over that body. Instead, we immerse that body completely in the ground.

Question #5: What Words Should Be Said During Water Baptism?　

Frankly, the exact words don’t seem nearly as important as the mode. Jesus told His followers to baptize “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). Peter told a group of Jews to be baptized “in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 2:38). Later, he told a group of Gentiles to be baptized “in the name of the Lord” (Acts 10:48). Paul baptized a group of believers “in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 19:5).

Most churches use the Matthew 28:19 words. This verse is one of the Bible’s proof texts that God is one God who exists in three distinct personages. In the verse, Jesus says to His disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name (singular) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” You see, there is no need to immerse the believer three times into the water. To do so is to confuse the fact that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are One. It is also to miss the fact that corpses aren’t buried three times.

December 1, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | Baptism, Belief, Bible Study, Christ's Death, Christ's Resurrection, Doctrine, The Holy Spirit, church, obedience, salvation | , , , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

Church Bulletin Humor

We don’t do church bulletins at Disciples Road Church, but I know all about them from my days of pastoring previous churches. There’s nothing wrong with using bulletins, but you’d better make sure they are done well. Otherwise, they can make your church look kind of stupid.

Today’s post offers a few examples from that category. I got these from an article that Bob Terrell ran in the December 17, 2000 edition of the Asheville Citizen Times. According to him, they were sent to him by Bea Pyle of Ormond Beach, Fla. See if you can spot the problem with each insert.

-Bertha Belch, a missionary from Africa, will be speaking tonight at Calvary Memorial Church. Come and hear Bertha Belch all the way from Africa. 

-Our youth basketball team is back in action Wednesday in the recreation hall. Come and watch us kill Christ the King.

-Miss Charlene Mason sang “I Will Not Pass This Way Again,” giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.

-Next Sunday is the family hayride and bonfire. Bring your own hot dogs and guns.

-The sermon this morning: “Jesus Walks On the Water.” The sermon tonight: “Searching For Jesus.”

-Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community.

-Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say “hell” to someone who doesn’t care much about you.

-Don’t let worry kill you off. Let the Church help.

-At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be “What Is Hell?” Come early and listen to our choir practice.

-Eight new choir robes are currently needed, due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.

-Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles, and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.

-The Lutheran men’s group will meet at 6 p.m.: steak, mashed potatoes, beans, bread, and dessert will be served for a nominal feel.

-Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person(s) you want remembered.

-Attend and you will hear an excellent speaker and heave a healthy lunch.

-Potluck supper Sunday at 5 p.m. Prayer and medication to follow.

-The ladies of the church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.

-This evening at 7 p.m. there will be a hymn sing in the park across from the church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.

-Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the BS is done.

-Low Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 p.m. Please use the back door.

-The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the church basement Friday at 7 p.m. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.

-The associate minister unveiled the church’s new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday: “I Upped My Pledge – Up Yours.”

 

 

November 20, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | Humor, church | , , , , , | No Comments Yet