Depression

Posted on August 22, 2018 by russellmckinney

Depression is a real thing. According to the website http://www.healthline.com, it’s estimated that 21 million adults in the United States have at least one major bout with depression each year. Of course, that number is probably low given the fact that many depressed people don’t talk about their problem and therefore don’t end up a statistic in a poll.

I personally know some good people, Christians, who struggle with depression. One of the best church members that I ever had called her depression “the pit.” It robbed her of her Christian joy and caused her to isolate herself from people, an isolation that cut completely against her normally outgoing nature. Each time her depression came upon her all she wanted to do was lie on her bed in a completely dark room.

Ralph Barton was perhaps the most popular cartoonist/illustrator of America’s roaring ’20s. His caricatures of celebrities and New York socialites were featured in various magazines such as Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, and, most notably, The New Yorker, where he served as an advisory editor. He also drew the illustrations for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, a wildly popular book of the decade.

Barton had fame and money, hobnobbed with celebrities (he and Charlie Chaplain were very close friends), traveled the world, dated and married beautiful women, and enjoyed the finer things of life. And yet on May 19th, 1931, he committed suicide by shooting himself in the head in his penthouse apartment in Manhattan. He was just 39 years old.

The truth about Barton is that he was a deeply troubled man who suffered from chronic depression and mental illness. The suicide note he left is one of the most famous ones ever written, having been published many times in many places. I offer it here as an illustration of the depths to which depression can take a person. Barton wrote:

Everyone who has known me and who hears of this will have a different hypothesis to offer to explain why I did it. Practically all of these hypotheses will be dramatic – and completely wrong. Any sane doctor knows that the reasons for suicide are invariably psychopathological. Difficulties in life merely precipitate the event – and the true suicide type manufactures his own difficulties. I have had few real difficulties. I have had, on the contrary, and exceptionally glamorous life – as lives go. And I have had more than my share of affection and appreciation. The most charming, intelligent, and important people I have known have liked me – and the list of my enemies is very flattering to me. I have always had excellent health. But, since my childhood, I have suffered with a melancholia which, in the past 5 years, has begun to show definite symptoms of manic-depressive insanity. It has prevented my getting anything like the full value out of my talents, and, for the past three years, has made work a torture to do at all. It has made it impossible for me to enjoy the simple pleasures of life that seem to get other people through. I have run from wife to wife, from house to house, and from country to country, in a ridiculous effort to escape from myself. In doing so, I am very much afraid that I have spread a good deal of unhappiness among the people who have loved me.”

Barton’s glamorous life and tragic death prove that no one is immune from depression. Even the Bible backs up this truth. Take the time sometime to read the following passages:

  • Israel’s King Solomon voices his depression in Ecclesiastes 1:1-11.
  • Solomon’s father, King David, does the same thing in Psalms 42 and 43.
  • The prophet Elijah asks God to take his life in 1 Kings 19:1-4.
  • Jonah asks God to take his life in Jonah 4:1-3.
  • Job asks God to take his life in Job 6:8-9.
  • Moses asks God to take his life in Numbers 11:10-15.

Charles Spurgeon was one Christian who had a different take on depression. He was England’s most famous preacher during its golden age of preachers, the Victorian age, and his Metropolitan Tabernacle in London is sometimes referred to as the world’s first megachurch. However, Spurgeon suffered from great bouts with depression that plagued his ministry and life. As the The Spurgeon Center website puts it:

Spurgeon owned more than thirty books on mental health. He read about depression, wrote about depression, and suffered from depression. Spurgeon’s letters contain numerous references to his sinking spirits. He often called himself a “prisoner” and wept without knowing why.

And what was the different take that Spurgeon had concerning depression? He called his depression “a prophet in rough clothing.” In his Lectures to My Students, he says:

Fits of depression come over most of us. Usually cheerful as we may be, we must at intervals be cast down. The strong are not always vigorous, the wise not always ready, the brave not always courageous, and the joyous not always happy. There may be here and there men of iron…but surely the rust frets even these.

Basically, Spurgeon looked upon depression as something with which everyone, to some degree or another, must wrestle. But he viewed bouts with depression as helpful experiences for the Christian. As he saw it, fits of depression cast Christians down to keep us humble before God so that we might not be egotistically exalted above measure (2 Corinthians 12:7). They teach us that we have the power of Christ upon us the most when we are the weakest, not when we are the strongest (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). They strip us of our overrated wisdom as we learn that we don’t really have all the answers to life’s troubles. They reveal the inferior quality of our supposed courage as we grow scared that we can’t overcome our depression. And they force us to face the reality that even though the born-again experience has equipped us to feel true Christian joy, sometimes we are not even happy, let alone joyous. 

I have to say that the more I study Spurgeon’s attitude toward depression the more I see the blessing in it. Surely, it’s no coincidence that God was able to use the man so mightily. Needless to say, I would like to have some degree of that same uncommon spiritual power upon my own ministry.

But what if that power only comes by way of bouts of depression? What if it takes those bouts to keep me humble and cause me to understand the fullness of Jesus’ words, “…without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5)? Well, that’s another matter altogether, and it’s one that I have to come to grips with one way or another in my own life.

I really don’t believe that God wants us to desire depression. Furthermore, I don’t believe that depression comes from Him. I do believe, though, that He can use a person’s depression as a tool to do outstanding spiritual work not only in that person but also through that person. We might think of this as God redeeming depression and bringing good out of it. It’s just a shame that so few depressed people actually understand this, and therefore they never reach the place where they can benefit from that good.

Posted in Adversity, Attitude, Brokenness, Depression, Discipleship, Encouragement, God's Work, Humility, Loneliness, Ministry, Perseverance, Preaching, Suffering, Trials, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

What I Didn’t Know Back Then

Posted on August 20, 2018 by russellmckinney

I was 27 years old when I accepted what is commonly referred to as “the call to preach.” 32 years have passed now. And what have I learned in those years? I’ve learned what I didn’t know back then.

What I didn’t know back then was that God’s call to preach would be housed inside His call to pastor. Preaching and pastoring are not the same thing. When you accept God’s call to preach, you envision yourself standing before congregations, open Bible in front of you on the pulpit, sharing the message that God has given you for the hour. What you don’t envision is all the messy stuff that comes with pastoring.

Preaching requires studying your Bible. Pastoring requires studying your church members. Preaching means spending time with God in prayer. Pastoring means spending time with your church members. Preaching locates you in a pulpit. Pastoring locates you in hospitals, rehab centers, and nursing homes. Preaching involves the question, “Is this the message that God wants me to preach?” Pastoring involves the question, “How can I get more people to attend church?” Preaching incorporates effective introductions, illustrations, and conclusions. Pastoring incorporates effective leadership, motivation, and results.

When you accept God’s call to preach you don’t understand about contentious business meetings. You don’t take into account church budgets, committees, and problem people. You don’t realize that “stepping on toes” with a sermon will usually be followed by mending a broken relationship with an in-home “let’s make up” visit. You assume that all your church members have the same innocent motivation and deep commitment to Jesus that you have, and then you come to the wildly disappointing realization that they don’t.

According to the gospels Jesus spent a lot of His time preaching. But according to those same gospels, He spent every bit as much of His time, if not more, ministering. He didn’t isolate Himself in an ivory tower, only coming down periodically to preach a powerful sermon. Instead, He moved in and out among the common folk of the land, visiting them in their cities, towns, and villages. He held one-on-one healing sessions with sick individuals. He touched lepers that no one else would even approach. He cast demons out of actual human beings who had actual names. He showed love to a country full of people who weren’t getting it from the Romans, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes, the priests, the tax collectors, or the merchants.

Oh, and did I mention how Jesus’ loving ministry ended? He got nailed to a cross. That is how this world treats God’s servants, and anyone who is feeling “the call to preach” should be made aware of this. It’s not all nice suits, expensive cars, big salaries, and congregations who can’t wait to hear and apply what you have to say. Instead, it’s trying to minister to needy people who oftentimes don’t understand their need and other times don’t appreciate your help even if they do understand their need. Thankfully, there are exceptions to this rule, but the exceptions simply prove the truth of the rule. That, of course, is something else I didn’t know back then.

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A Fresh Word from God

Posted on August 17, 2018 by russellmckinney

Now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation. (1 Samuel 3:1, N.K.J.V.)

The Hebrew word translated as “widespread revelation” in this verse is hazon. It’s a word that refers to divine revelation. Most typically in the Old Testament it is used in reference to a prophetic vision such as the ones God’s prophets received from Him.

Therefore, our text verse is describing a time in ancient Israel in which God wasn’t doing much talking. A fresh word from Him was rare and God-sent visions were scarce. The nation was forced to operate from old revelation, the revelation that God had given them centuries earlier through Moses by way of the Mosaic law.

And what was the cause of Israel’s sad spiritual state? The main problem was that Israel’s priesthood had turned corrupt. The High Priest, Eli, was old, and he was allowing his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, to handle most of the priestly duties. Unfortunately, Hophni and Phinehas were wicked men.

For example, even though the Mosaic law allowed for Israel’s priests to receive designated portions of the Israelites’ animal sacrifices (Deuteronomy 18:3), Hophni and Phinehas always greedily took more than the share the law allowed (1 Samuel 2:13-17). Also, they commonly had sexual relations with the women who served at the Tabernacle, Israel’s God-ordained place of worship (1 Samuel 2:22). The elderly Eli did make some attempt to rebuke his sons, but they ignored the old man’s words (1 Samuel 2:23-25). How bad were Hophni and Phinehas? For one thing, they didn’t even know the Lord in a saving way (1 Samuel 2:12). For another, God wanted to kill them (1 Samuel 2:25), which He did by means of an Israelite battle with the Philistines (1 Samuel 4:1-11).

Is it any wonder, then, that a word from the Lord was rare in the days of Eli, Hophni, and Phinehas? Is it any wonder there was no widespread revelation during that time? Why would God bother to share new revelation when Israel’s priests weren’t even living up to the old revelation?

Interestingly, our word hazon is also used in Proverbs 29:18, which famously says in the King James Version: “Where there is no vision, the people perish…” The teaching of the verse is that a fresh word from God (a revelation) is the difference between perishing and thriving. A situation is lying stagnant, and then all of a sudden God speaks a fresh word into it. He says, “Here’s how things are and here’s what I’m going to do about it.” Without that fresh word (that God-sanctioned vision, that divine revelation) the situation will continue to trudge along in its pitiable condition.

It is also worth noting that the Hebrew word translated as “perish” in Proverbs 29:18 of the King James Version is para. It’s a word that means “to run wild and unrestrained.” You see, what the original Hebrew of Proverbs 29:18 tells us is that where there is no fresh word from God, people run wild. As the New International Version renders the verse: “Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint…” The New Living Translation gets even more blunt, saying: “When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild…”

You say, “Okay, but what does all this mean to me?” First, it means that if your life is marked by unrepentant sin, you needn’t expect a fresh word of guidance from God. Why should He impart new guidance to you when you aren’t even living up to the guidance that He has previously shared? Second, it means that without that divine guidance you are running unrestrained and wild. You aren’t in God’s will. You aren’t living a life that He can ideally bless. You aren’t in a place where He can share with you all the wonderful insight that He has for you. Only when you repent of your sins and start living up to the spiritual light that God has already given you will He be able to impart to you a fresh word of guidance that will allow you to move to a higher level in your living.

Posted in Backsliding, Character, Commitment, Confession, Discernment, Disobedience, Faithfulness, Fatherhood, God's Guidance, God's Will, God's Word, Greed, Obedience, Personal Holiness, Rebellion, Repentance, Restoration, Scripture, Sex, Sin, The Bible | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Trouble with Family

Posted on August 15, 2018 by russellmckinney

The Ishmaelites were descendants of Abraham through Hagar, Sarah’s maidservant (Genesis 16:1-16). The Midianites were descendants of Abraham through Keturah, the wife he took after the death of Sarah (Genesis 25:1-2). Over the course of time, the Ishmaelites and the Midianites intertwined to the point where the terms “Ishmaelite” and “Midianite” became interchangeable (Judges 8:22-28).

This brings us to the story of Joseph, where we’re told that Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery to a group of Ishmaelite/Midianite traders headed south to Egypt to do business there (Genesis 37:25-28). Once in Egypt, the traders sold Joseph to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s captain of the guard (Genesis 37:36). Obviously, the Ishmaelite/Midianite traders had no qualms about trafficking in human beings. To them, Joseph was just another item to be bought for a good price and sold for a better one.

What makes this story all the more tragic is the fact that Joseph and his brothers, like the Ishmaelites and Midianites, were descendants of Abraham. Abraham had fathered Isaac through Sarah (Genesis 21:1-3), Isaac had fathered Jacob through Rebekah (Genesis 25:19-26), and Jacob had fathered Joseph and Joseph’s brothers through four different women (Genesis 29:13-30:24). So, by doing all the math, we learn that every man involved in Joseph’s brothers selling him into slavery could trace his ancestry back to Abraham.

This shows us that family can sometimes be a detrimental thing in a person’s life. Family members can take advantage of their fellow family members, use them, cheat them, lie to them, manipulate them, steal from them, and work to hold them down in life. This isn’t heartwarming news, but it is the reality of living in a fallen world.

Therefore, the takeaway application from this post is two-fold. First, be the kind of family member that helps your fellow family members rather than hurts them. Second, don’t let any of your family members keep you from being the person God wants you to be and living the kind of life He wants you to live.

It’s not that I’m suggesting that all of your family members are trouble. Much to the contrary, your family will oftentimes be one of the greatest sources of blessings in your life. But sometimes, as in the case of Joseph, your immediate family (Joseph’s brothers) or your extended family (the Ishmaelite/Midianites) can create real problems for you.

The encouraging news, though, is that no matter what wrongs your family members perpetrate on you, God is big enough to use that evil for His good and your betterment (Genesis 50:19-20). This is the great overarching promise of Joseph’s life, and it’s one that anyone whose family has caused them trouble can claim. Hopefully, you’ll never need to claim that promise, but it’s always there for you if you need it.

Posted in Adversity, Children, Family, Fatherhood, God's Sovereignty, Husbands, Motherhood, Parenting, Perseverance, Polygamy, Problems, Slavery, Wives | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Is It Time for You to Make a Change?

Posted on August 13, 2018 by russellmckinney

People often fall into one of two erroneous camps in regards to making changes. One camp holds that change is never good, while the other camp holds that it is always good. But the truth is that sometimes change is of God and sometimes it isn’t. The problem is that we have trouble discerning the difference.

Churches, of course, are not immune to this problem. Sadly, it is all too common for churches to fight or even split over changes to music (traditional vs. contemporary), Bible translations (the King James version vs. any other version), and missions giving (local vs. foreign). And then there are those fights over more practical changes: pews vs. chairs, hymnals vs. video screens, choir robes vs. regular attire, a piano/organ vs. a praise band, and blue carpet vs. red carpet.

I once met with the pulpit committee of a certain church. After our initial discussion the members of the committee took me on a tour of the church building. When we came to the sanctuary, they pointed out that it featured two different types of light fixtures, with the differing types being set in a pattern of alternating rows in the sanctuary’s ceiling.

On the plus side, the fixtures did the job of lighting the sanctuary. On the down side, they made for an odd-looking ceiling. But I understood the ceiling’s layout perfectly once the committee members explained that there had been a disagreement among the church members over replacing the sanctuary’s original fixtures. As a compromise half the rows of the original fixtures had been kept and the other half had been updated with a more modern style of fixture. The pastor that had moderated that compromise must have had a knack for politics.

Perhaps right now you are facing a decision regarding a potential change. It could be a change in where you live, where you work, where you go to church, or where your child goes to school. Or the change could involve some other area of your life. Whatever your potential change is, my advice to you would be to pray what David once prayed when he found himself in a tight spot. He prayed:

…Cause me to know the way wherein which I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee (Psalm 143:8, K.J.V.)

Notice that David’s request was built around three implicit truths. Truth #1: There was a singular, specific course of action that David should take. It wasn’t a multiple-choice type of deal wherein God didn’t have a preference which path David chose. Truth #2: God knew precisely what that course of action was. Even though David was a bit overwhelmed by his circumstance, God knew exactly what David needed to do. And truth #3: God would cause David to know exactly what that course of action was. David wouldn’t have been asking God for guidance if God wasn’t the type to give it.

David was smart in that he knew that he didn’t have to figure everything out for himself. All he had to do was ask God to show him the way and be obedient to whatever answer God gave him. That’s a marvelously simplistic way to live! It’s a way that worked for David, and it’s a way that will work for you as well, no matter what potential change you are facing.

So, is God for that change that you are dealing with these days? I don’t know. What I do know is that He has a will in each situation and He’ll make it known to you if you sincerely seek it from Him. This, then, is your assignment. Seek God’s will regarding your potential change and do whatever He says to do about it. Anything less than that and you might just wind up with two different types of light fixtures in your ceiling.

Posted in Change, Choices, Church, Desires, Discernment, God's Guidance, God's Will, Obedience, Personal, Prayer, Submission, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing

Posted on August 10, 2018 by russellmckinney

Colder weather and the holiday season bring an uptick in requests from various causes and ministries. That makes this time of year a good time for a word about “the social gospel.” So, I’d like to use this post to offer that word.

The intellectual and political movement associated with the term “the social gospel” began in the 1870s and peaked in the early 1900s. Its promoters were liberal ministers in the mainline Protestant churches of America. These men preached that Christian principles such as love, compassion, and charity should be actively applied to very real-world problems such as: war, poverty, crime, child labor, alcoholism, financial inequality, health, and education.

Most of these ministers held to a postmillennialist view of prophecy, which meant they believed that Christ’s Second Coming to walk this earth again would not happen until the entire world was more or less a realm of Christendom. In order to create such a world, social evils had to be eradicated. Therefore, these ministers preached about fixing what we might call “the dirty here and now” rather than longing for “the sweet by and by.”

The problem, however, with “the social gospel” was that it was built upon the premise that people are basically good and their inner goodness simply needs to be given the right environment in which to flourish. While this premise does tickle our ears, it most certainly does not align with either recorded history or the Bible. According to the Bible each individual is a sinner by conception, birth, nature, and choice. In other words, each of us is a far cry from being basically good.

This explains why Jesus, during His earthly ministry, did not spend His time doing social reform. As evidence of that even though many of His followers wanted Him to lead an overthrow of the wicked Roman government, He constantly refused to do so. He didn’t even work to eliminate the slavery of His day despite the fact that there were multiplied millions of slaves scattered throughout the Roman empire.

Jesus focused, instead, upon spiritual matters. He did this because He understood that the heart of the problem with each person is the problem of the heart. Did Jesus cure the sick? He did in many instances, but He didn’t heal every sick person in Israel. Did He feed the hungry? He did on a few occasions, but He didn’t eliminate all hunger worldwide. For that matter, even those people for whom He provided healing and food would eventually get sick and hungry again. Such is the state of this world.

Rather than trying to preserve the popularity His miracles brought His way, Jesus used His ministry efforts as a platform to tell His audiences about their need of the salvation offered in Him. He preached on hell more than any other preacher in scripture, and He openly called people to repentance. The point is, He didn’t just open His hands to help needy people; He also opened His mouth to tell them about their greatest need. Even as He ascended back to heaven following His death, burial, and resurrection, He said to His followers, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel” (Mark 16:15). That’s different than telling them to, “Go into all the world and do good things.”

While the Bible does teach that we, as Christians, are to be concerned about justice, inequality, and the needs of others, it never once hints that we can solve all the world’s problems by making prisons more humane, building hospitals, staffing soup kitchens, funding homeless shelters, promoting rehabilitation centers, etc., etc., etc. Why is that? It’s because these things merely make this world a better place from which to die and go to hell if those who benefit from them don’t believe in Jesus as Savior after hearing a clear presentation of the gospel. You see, somewhere there is a right balance to be struck between our social work and our evangelizing. Admittedly, finding that balance requires a lot of prayer and spiritual discernment, but we must find it if we are going to practice Christ’s brand of evangelism. And that, my fellow Christians, is the only way we can keep the main thing the main thing.

Posted in Balance, Christ's Second Coming, Christ's Miracles, Christ's Return, Communication, Discernment, Doing Good, Evangelism, God's Work, Good Works, Hell, Human Life, Ministry, Missions, Needs, Priorities, Salvation, Service, Witnessing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Traveling with Jesus

Posted on August 8, 2018 by russellmckinney

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. (John 10:27, N.K.J.V.)

During my teenage years I ran around a lot with my friend, Jerry Willis. Jerry had a 1970 Chevy Nova Super Sport muscle car with a 350/300 horsepower engine. Man, that was a sweet ride.

Jerry is one of the funniest people that I’ve ever met and we had some good times, but when you got into the car with him, you never knew just exactly where he’d be taking you. Oh, sure, you’d get to where you were supposed to be going (the ball field, the restaurant, the concert, etc.) What you didn’t know is what other stops Jerry would work in along the way.

It always started with him saying, “We’ve got one stop to make.” Or he might say, “I need to pull in here for just a minute.” Sometimes he’d say, “We’ve got a few minutes to kill so we might as well run by….” And there I was, in the passenger’s seat, helpless. Sometimes I objected by saying something like, “No, I don’t have time to do that.” Such objections were always nullified by the comeback, “Oh, what else have you got to do?” And I always went along with him. I understood that it was the price of riding with Jerry.

In the years since I’ve learned that walking with Jesus can be like riding with Jerry. Yes, Jesus is taking me someplace, but He very rarely uses a point A to point B approach to get me there. When He says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me,” it implies two things. First, He has His sheep on the move. Second, He provides scant few instructions for how He will get them there.

Today’s GPS systems are designed to get us to our destinations via the shortest route possible. As I said, though, Jesus isn’t very interested in the shortest route possible. You see, whereas we’re all about the destination, He is more concerned about the development we acquire as He takes us to the destination.

And why is this? It’s because Jesus knows that delays and detours build patience and perseverance. They also give us experience, which in turn helps us acquire wisdom. So, the next time you feel like Jesus is taking way too long to get you to where He is taking you, just remember that He values the journey itself every bit as much as the arrival at the destination. Now, if I can just get Him to let me do my traveling in a 1970 Super Sport Nova!

Posted in Adversity, Commitment, Disappointment, Discipleship, Faith, Faithfulness, God's Timing, God's Guidance, God's Will, Impatience, Patience, Personal, Problems, Trials, Trusting In God, Waiting | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Are You Willing to Pay the Cost?

Posted on August 6, 2018 by russellmckinney

Author Lafcadio Hearn was known for his books about Japan. In particular, his collections of Japanese traditional stories and legends were very well received. One such story involved a Japanese farmer who owned a valuable rice field that covered a hilltop overlooking the sea.

As the story goes, one day an earthquake struck the area of the rice field. The farmer was working in the field at the time, and from atop the hill he noticed that in the wake of the tremor the ocean water started withdrawing from the surrounding shoreline. He realized what this signified: a tidal wave.

The farmer knew that somehow he had to quickly get his neighbors evacuated from their low-lying homes and fields beneath him. But how could he get their attention? Thinking quickly, he set fire to his rice field, ran to the local temple, and rang the bell.

His neighbors, upon hearing the bell and seeing the fire and smoke, all raced up the hillside to help put out the fire. Once the fire was out, with much of the valuable field ruined, it was discovered that the farmer had deliberately started the blaze. His neighbors were furious with him for wasting his field and putting their lives in danger.

The farmer then told them to look down to the shoreline. There they saw that while they had been consumed with putting out the fire, the ocean had come crashing in upon their homes and fields. Everything beneath the hilltop was flooded, and if the farmer had not gotten the people to come to higher ground they would have been drowned by the massive wave. In an instant the farmer went from madman to hero.

Jesus said, “The greatest among will be your servant.” Oh, how this world needs servants! It needs the volunteer who will look at a situation that cries out for help, roll up his sleeves, and get to work, no matter how hard or unpleasant the work is. Think Jesus stooping down to wash the dirty, smelly feet of His chosen 12 apostles and you’ll get the idea.

You see, the thing about being a servant is that it comes at a cost. It costs you your pride and ego. It costs you your time and energy. It costs you your ease and comfort. It might even cost you your money or reputation. It’s no wonder that the line marked “servants” is always short.

Like that Japanese farmer from lore, however, we Christians are called to be people who will make great personal sacrifices so that others may benefit. Christ’s death on the cross is our ultimate example of this. Of course, Jesus probably won’t ask you to literally follow His example by dying for others. What He will do, though, is ask you to live for them. And according to His definition, living for them means serving them, no matter what it costs you personally.

Posted in Character, Christ's Death, Commitment, Discipleship, Doing Good, Dying To Self, Giving, God's Work, Good Works, Humility, Ministry, Missions, Money, Problems, Service, Submission | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rainbows

Posted on August 3, 2018 by russellmckinney

“Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. (Genesis 9:11-13, N.K.J.V.)

No portion of the Bible has had its literalness attacked more than the first eleven chapters of the book of Genesis. Those chapters include the Bible’s record of the seven 24-hour days of the creation week, the story of Adam and Eve, and the story of Noah, the ark, and the worldwide flood. As evidence of these attacks a theory has been set forth in recent years that suggests the great flood was actually a localized event that only involved the flooding of the Black Sea.

But does any theory that relegates the flood of Noah to a localized flood actually hold water (pun intended)? No, it doesn’t. As Christian apologist Dave Hunt has pointed out, the fact that rainbows are seen all over the world proves that the great flood really was a worldwide deluge. He argues that if the flood was localized to the Black Sea (or anywhere else, for that matter), rainbows would only appear in that part of the world as a phenomenon unique to that area. Therefore, since rainbows can be found all over the globe, the floodwaters must have been found all over the globe.

Hunt also notes that 2 Peter 3:5-13 teaches that God will one day destroy this earth again, this time not with water but with fire. Following this fiery destruction, God will usher in a “new earth” (2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1). According to Hunt, if the fiery destruction of the end times will be an event that involves the entire planet, the preceding bookend event (the great flood) must also have involved the entire planet.

For the record, some commentators interpret the “new earth” to be a brand spanking new planet, one that replaces the obliterated former earth in the universe. Others understand the “new earth” to refer to this same earth completely purged of all vestiges of sin, the phrase being akin to the born-again Christian being described as a “new creation” who has seen old things pass away and all things become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). I myself hold to the latter interpretation, my primary reason being that God promised to give the land of Canaan to Abraham’s descendants as an everlasting possession forever (Genesis 13:14-15; 17:7). God wouldn’t be able to keep that promise if Canaan was completed obliterated. Also, the idea of the “new earth” being this same earth purged by fire aligns better with the fact that God didn’t obliterate the planet by way of the flood, either.

To get back to the point, though, the rainbow is the covenant sign of God’s promise to never again destroy the earth by way of water. So, the next time you see a rainbow, don’t casually dismiss it or relegate it to life’s category of the humdrum. Instead, understand that a rainbow is special. It’s important. It’s BIBLICAL! It shows that its creator is a God who makes promises and keeps them. Thousands of years may pass, but God never forgets His promises.

As further evidence of this, guess what God’s throne in heaven has around it. If you answered, “A rainbow,” you’re correct (Revelation 4:1-3). It’s an emerald rainbow, to be precise, and it extends in a circle all the way around God’s throne. This rainbow being green symbolizes life, in this case the eternal life that every saved believer will experience throughout eternity. As for the rainbow being circular, the circle symbolizes the completion of the believer’s salvation, that salvation being at last being fully claimed and realized.

Needless to say, the emerald rainbow around God’s heavenly throne is the ultimate rainbow that anyone can ever see. If you lay your eyes upon it, you’ll know beyond the shadow of all doubt that you are a member of God’s eternal family and a citizen of His eternal kingdom. Whatever pain and sorrow you experienced on the earth will be over at that moment, and you’ll be able to say like David, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6). But until we Christians get to see that heavenly rainbow, we’ll just have to settle for the earthly version. Really, though, considering the history and the promise behind the earthly version, that’s no small consolation prize.

Posted in Assurance of Salvation, Creation, Doubt, Eternal Security, Eternity, God's Omnipotence, God's Wrath, God's Judgment, God's Mercy, God's Sovereignty, Heaven, Prophecy, Restoration, Salvation, Scripture, The Bible, Trusting In God, Waiting, Weather | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Fresh Spark

Posted on August 1, 2018 by russellmckinney

“Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die…” (Revelation 3:3, N.K.J.V.)

Dr. G. Curtis Jones tells the story of a board meeting he once attended at a city church where he was serving as pastor. The focus of the meeting was the church’s lackluster performance at winning people to Christ. Everyone in the meeting was in agreement that the church’s evangelism program needed a fresh spark, but no one was willing to volunteer to be that spark.

Finally, quite unexpectedly, a prominent physician stood up from the group and said, “I don’t know much about evangelism, but I love Christ and His church. Pastor, if you will teach me how to become an evangelist and if you, the members of this board, will cooperate, I will head up our evangelism program for next year.”

As Jones describes it, “It was an exciting statement! Like a blood transfusion, he injected new life and enthusiasm into the group. We experienced a great ingathering of souls that year. Moreover, the physician grew in Christian grace and loyalty, as did the congregation.”

Christian, are you willing to be such a spark in your church, your workplace, or your home? Like that physician, you don’t necessarily have to have a ton of ability; what you have to have is availability. You have to be willing (willing to learn, willing to put in the required time, and willing to devote the necessary energy).

The fact is, there are situations all around you that need a fresh spark. Even as you’ve been reading this, it’s possible that God has already brought a situation to your mind. So tell me, are you willing to be the vessel that He works through to bring restoration and revival to that situation? While it’s true that God loves doing new things, it’s equally true that He loves reinvigorating tired, old things and taking them to a level they have never known. But, as always, He needs workers.

Posted in Attitude, Change, Church, Commitment, Decisions, Doing Good, Evangelism, Family, God's Will, God's Work, Influence, Leadership, Ministry, Missions, Problems, Restoration, Service, Witnessing, Work | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment