“Christian Verses” podcast: Luke 9:23 (Interview with Malcolm Woody)

Posted on February 17, 2018 by russellmckinney

I cohost the “Christian Verses” podcast with Malcolm Woody. For last week’s podcast Malcolm interviewed me. This week I return the favor and interview him. Malcolm’s life verse is Luke 9:23. So we start there and we’re off and running as Malcolm talks about everything from: a church split his little “country” church suffered when he was just a boy, to his rededication to Christ years later, to his struggles during college, to meeting the wife whom he firmly believes was sent by God, to the birth of their four children in four different states, to attending a diversity of churches, to his current job and ministry. It all makes for an interesting interview. Here’s the link:

https://soundcloud.com/user-185243867/christianverses2018005

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What Satan Did to Eve: Deception

Posted on February 16, 2018 by russellmckinney

“The Wiles of the Devil” series (post #3)

And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. (1 Timothy 2:14, N.K.J.V.)

But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3, N.I.V.)

Deception. It is one of Satan’s most effective wiles. As a matter of fact, he’s so good at it that Revelation 12:9 says that he “deceives the whole world.” Think about that. The whole world covers a lot of territory and a lot of people.

So, maybe we should go a little easier on Eve. There she was, minding her own business in the Garden of Eden, when suddenly she found herself in a one-on-one encounter with the master deceiver. She got no warning. She got no time to prepare for the deception. She was just thrust into a spiritual confrontation that she didn’t ask for or want. Would you have fared any better than she did? Would I?

Satan’s primary way of deceiving is lying, and that’s what he did to Eve. He said of her eating the forbidden fruit:

…You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. (Genesis 3:4-5, N.K.J.V.)

How much of a liar is Satan? Just ask Jesus, who once said of Satan:

…He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of liars. (John 8:44, N.I.V.)

“No truth in him.” “When he lies, he speaks his native language.” “He is a liar and the father of liars.” Jesus couldn’t have been any more emphatic in His description of Satan as a liar. And which one of Satan’s wiles walks hand in hand with lying? Deception.

Tonya was almost three months pregnant with our first child when she began having some physical problems, problems that seemed to indicate that a miscarriage was imminent. Naturally, we prayed and asked God to heal whatever was wrong and allow her to keep the baby. Unfortunately, however, the more we prayed the more the problems intensified. It was an awful time.

One day during all of that I was driving down the road and praying while I was driving. Suddenly, I heard a voice in my head. The voice said, “Russell, your baby is alright.” As any Christian would, I took that voice to be the voice of the indwelling Holy Spirit. I’d heard the Spirit’s inner voice before and as far as I could tell this was the same voice. Needless to say, I certainly wanted the voice to be the Spirit’s.

And so, what happened? A few days later Tonya miscarried. So much for, “Russell, your baby is alright.” Like Eve, I’d been lied to and deceived. I hesitated about using that story in this post because, for obvious reasons, I don’t like reliving that time of our life. But I’m including it because I want you to understand that I know firsthand what being deceived by the devil feels like. Even if he wasn’t personally with me in the car that day, one of his demons sure was, and he told that demon just what lie to tell me to deceive me about what was happening with our baby.

I’m happy to report, though, that there is coming a day upon this earth when all of Satan’s deceptions will cease. After the Rapture of the church, after the seven-year tribulation period, and after Christ’s Second Coming, Jesus will institute His 1,000-year reign upon this earth. Numerous Bible passages from both the Old Testament and the New Testament speak of that reign, but the one that is the most relevant to our subject is found in Revelation 20:1-3. Those verses describe what is going to happen to Satan at the beginning of Christ’s reign, and if you read the passage closely, you’ll see what it has to do with Satan’s deceptions. That’s why I’m offering it as the close to this post:

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. (N.K.J.V.)

Posted in Deception, Discernment, Lying, Personal, Prophecy, Satan, Series: "The Wiles of the Devil", Spiritual Warfare, The Devil, Truth | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What Satan Did to His Fellow Angels: Rebellion

Posted on February 14, 2018 by russellmckinney

“The Wiles of the Devil” series (post #2)

The Bible tells us quite a bit about angels, but it leaves certain parts of the story blank. First, it doesn’t tell us how many angels there are. Second, it doesn’t tell us when they were created, even though Job 38:1-7 indicates that it was sometime before Genesis 1:1. Third, it doesn’t tell us when Satan and his group of rebellious angels fell.

I think our best guess as to when Satan and his group fell is that it happened between the last verse of Genesis chapter 2 and the first verse of Genesis chapter 3. I say that because in Genesis 1:31 God looks at everything He has made and classifies it all as “very good.” Doesn’t that word “everything” have to include the angelic realm? And nothing happens in Genesis chapter 2 to upset that “very good” applecart. Then suddenly in Genesis 3:1 a talking serpent enters the story.

The Bible doesn’t even give us a blow-by-blow account of the angelic rebellion. But Isaiah 14:12-14 hints at it in the context of Isaiah’s pronouncement of woe upon the king of Babylon. Similarly, Ezekiel 28:11-17 hints at it in the context of Ezekiel’s pronouncement of woe upon the king of Tyre. You see, while each of these passages does have a direct reference to the earthly king in question, each passage also provides descriptive details that simply do not fit the king. Therefore, it seems that even as Isaiah and Ezekiel were prophesying against those kings, the two prophets were also prophesying against the power behind the kings. That power was Satan. So, by pulling the relevant thoughts from the two passages, we learn the following about Satan:

  • Satan’s angelic name is Lucifer, which means “shining one.” (Isaiah 14:12)
  • He is a cherub angel. (Ezekiel 28:14)
  • Like all the other angels, he was created in perfection. (Ezekiel 28:12,15)
  • He was full of wisdom. (Ezekiel 28:12)
  • He was perfect in beauty. (Ezekiel 28:12)
  • He was associated with music. (Ezekiel 28:13)
  • His great splendor caused him to become vain, proud, and ambitious. (Isaiah 14:13, Ezekiel 28:15,17)
  • He wanted to be worshiped as God is worshiped. (Isaiah 14:14)

Now, if these two passages were all we had to go on we’d have to assume that Satan acted alone in his rebellion against God. However, there are other passages that teach that a group of Satan’s fellow angels joined him in his coup attempt. For example, in Matthew 25:41 Jesus speaks of an everlasting fire that is prepared for the devil and his angels. Likewise, Revelation 12:7 also mentions Satan’s angels. These other fallen angels are the “demons” described in the New Testament. Ephesians 6:11-12 is another passage that speaks of not only Satan but also the other fallen angels. Those verses say:

Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the Devil. For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms. (New Living Translation)

And what percentage of the angels aligned themselves with Satan in his rebellion and consequently fell with him? The answer seems to be one-third. That percentage comes from Revelation 12:3-4, which symbolically describes Satan as a fiery red dragon whose tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. Since many stars are actually bigger than the earth, it’s obvious the reference isn’t describing literal stars. Therefore, the correct interpretation seems to be that it’s a reference to the number of angels who were cast out of heaven with Satan.

Okay, so what should we learn from all of this? We should learn that one of Satan’s wiles is REBELLION. For example:

  • He wants people to rebel against the authority of Jesus Christ (Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:5-11).
  • He wants citizens to rebel against the authority of their government (Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-17).
  • He wants workers to rebel against the authority of their employers (Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 3:22-25).
  • He wants wives to rebel against the authority of their husbands (Ephesians 5:22-24; Colossians 3:18).
  • He wants children to rebel against the authority of their parents (Ephesians 6:1-3; Colossians 3:20).
  • He wants church members to rebel against the authority of their pastors (Hebrews 13:7,17,24).

Think of it this way: Satan himself was the original rebel, and he’s still in rebel mode. According to Revelation 12:7-12, he’ll even lead his angels in a second war against heaven at the middle of the coming tribulation period. Then, later on down the line into Bible prophecy, he’ll lead a final worldwide revolt against Jesus immediately following Christ’s 1,000-year reign upon the earth (Revelation 20:1-10).

And so, I’ll close this post by giving you a simple warning: Beware of allowing Satan to somehow ensnare you with his wile of rebellion. What he knows that you might know is that a rebel will never fully submit to Jesus Christ. Oh, that rebel might go to church. He might read the Bible. She might pray. I suppose a rebel can even be a true Christian. What a rebel won’t do, though, is give Jesus the kind of authority that He demands over every corner of life. That kind of submission is what separates the spiritual “real deals” from the spiritual wannabes, and it’s the kind of submission that Satan works hard to keep people from giving to Jesus.

Posted in Angels, Children, Church, Demons, Disobedience, Family, Fatherhood, Government, Headship, Husbands, Parenting, Pastors, Politics, Rebellion, Satan, Series: "The Wiles of the Devil", Spiritual Warfare, Submission, The Devil, Wives, Work, Youth | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Wiles of the Devil

Posted on February 12, 2018 by russellmckinney

“The Wiles of the Devil” series (post #1)

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (Ephesians 6:11, N.K.J.V.)

The Greek word translated as “wiles” in this verse is methodia. Since we can see the word “method” in there, we can say that Satan’s “wiles” are his methodology. They are the means by which he seduces people, tricks them, and gets them to do his bidding. Other translations translate methodia as: “schemes,” “tactics,” “the strategies and tricks,” or “the strategies and deceits.”

This post begins a series in which we will walk through the pages of the Bible and look at the various “wiles” that Satan has used throughout history to trip up various Bible characters. Each post will focus upon a different story and a different wile. Our goal is to learn from the ways Satan has gotten others in the past so that we can be on guard against him getting us in the future. As one writer has put it:

While God never wants you to become too focused on thinking about Satan and his role in the world, God does want you to be generally aware of how he operates. The worst position to take is “what I don’t know can’t hurt me.” When it comes to spiritual issues, the very opposite is true.

It is with this in mind that we launch into this series. If what we don’t know about Satan can hurt us, then we need to learn all we can about him. And the best textbook for such a class is the Bible, both the Old Testament and the New Testament. By studying the Bible we’ll get to know our enemy and hopefully that will keep us from experiencing the problem a certain British outpost experienced at the beginning of World War I.

As the story goes, when war broke out the War Ministry of London dispatched a coded message to all of its outposts. The message read:

War declared. Arrest all enemy aliens in your district.

Unfortunately for the Brits, one of their outposts happened to be located in a very remote, virtually inaccessible part of Africa. Because of their isolation the troops there didn’t get much news and were always behind the times a bit on world events. So, when they received the message they promptly sent back the following reply:

Have arrested ten Germans, six Belgians, four Frenchmen, two Italians, three Australians, and an American. Please advise immediately who we are at war with.

Make no mistake, you and I are at war with Satan. Even if you don’t think of yourself as being at war with him, you are. Even if you don’t believe in his existence, he’s still real and he’s still at war with you. That’s why I hope you will get on board with me for this series. Not only will you find the stories interesting, you’ll will find them informative. But best of all, they’ll give you the heads up you need to be able to successfully stand against the wiles of the devil. So, tune in next time and we’ll get started.

Posted in Bible Study, Deception, Demons, Discernment, Satan, Scripture, Series: "The Wiles of the Devil", Spiritual Warfare, The Devil | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

“Christian Verses” Podcast: John 10:27 (Interview With Russell Mckinney)

Posted on February 10, 2018 by russellmckinney

Malcolm and I are still feeling our way into the podcast ministry. I mean, it’s not like we’ve got a technical team and a staff of writers behind us or have ever done something like this. All in all, though, I guess we’re off to an acceptable start with it.

We thought it might be good to devote a couple of podcasts to introducing ourselves to the audience. So he interviewed me this week and I’ll interview him next week. I didn’t know what questions he was going to ask, and so there was no studying for the interview. Then again, I guess you could say that I’ve been studying for it for 51 years. Here’s the link:

https://soundcloud.com/user-185243867/christianverses2018004

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Did Jesus Help the Eagles Win the Super Bowl?

Posted on February 8, 2018 by russellmckinney

The Philadelphia Eagles beat the New England Patriots 41-33 in last Sunday’s Super Bowl. While that result was a bit of an upset, what stood out to me most about the game was the inordinate amount of “Jesus talk” the game produced. As those of us who watch a lot of sporting events know, coaches and athletes often thank their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for helping them win. That has become almost commonplace in this day and age. But what was different about this year’s Super Bowl was the exceptionally high level the praising of Jesus hit. Most notably, Eagles head coach Doug Pederson, Eagles quarterback Nick Foles, and NBC anyalyst Tony Dungy stood out with their praising.

I’ll start with Pederson. When he stepped to the podium for his first interview following his team’s victory, the opening words out of his mouth were, “I can only give the praise to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for giving me this opportunity.” For the record, those words seemed thoroughly unforced and genuine.

Then there was Foles, the Eagles’ backup quarterback who was thrust into the starter’s role a month or so ago when starter Carson Wentz got hurt. Foles has been an NFL player for years, but until the lead up to this Super Bowl I had never heard anything about him being a devout Christian. Now I know, along with the world, that he is currently taking online classes at Liberty University, plans to go into the ministry when his football days are finished, and attributes all of his success to Jesus Christ.

Lastly, we had NFL Hall of Famer Dungy. He is a former player and coach who now works as one of the analysts on NBC’s pregame show, halftime show, and post-game show. On the post-game show (and later on Twitter), he commented that Nick Foles told him last week that Foles believed that God had Foles in Philadelphia for a “special moment.” Then he went on to say of Foles, “And he played like it tonight.”

Now, just to be clear, I certainly didn’t want Doug Pederson grabbing a microphone and saying, “I can only give the praise to my Lord and Savior Satan for giving me this opportunity.” Likewise, it didn’t bother me one bit to learn that Nick Foles is a Christian who plans to go into the ministry one of these days. To the contrary, I classified that as a pleasant surprise. And as for Tony Dungy, I’ve always found his zeal to promote Christianity to be quite bold considering that he is a celebrity. For that matter, you can count me as one of the millions who read his best-selling book Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, & Priorities of a Winning Life.

Still, despite all these qualifiers, my problem with the heavy Christian slant these men placed on the Eagles victory is that it left the masses with the impression, “Jesus favored the Eagles and so He helped them beat the Patriots.” Even if the three weren’t trying to leave this impression — and mind you I’m not saying they were — the impression got left nonetheless. How could the average person take their words to mean anything less?

You longtime readers of this blog know that this isn’t the first time I’ve written on this issue. In particular, my post Tim Tebow & Jesus still stands as one of my most read posts. That post addresses the “Jesus wants you to be a winner” mentality that has become so pervasive in America’s Christian culture. This mentality can be traced directly to the rise of the “prosperity gospel” that emphasizes health, wealth, and success and has become the singular core doctrine of so many Pentecostal, Charismatic, and nondenominational churches, not to mention the dominant programming on Christian television and radio.

Needless to say, when you couple that version of Christianity up with the “American way” of affluence and consumerism, you get a whole bunch of Christians claiming Philippians 4:13 — “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (N.K.J.V.) — as their call to success in any and all endeavors, including athletics. More’s the pity. It’s no wonder that pastor and theologian John Piper created quite a stir on Twitter several years ago when he tweeted:

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13), like go hungry, get cancer, be killed and go home.

Well, by now perhaps you are saying, “Geez, Russell, don’t you believe that Christian athletes, coaches, and analysts should bring their Christianity into the athletic realm?” Let me answer that with an emphatic, “I do!” God knows it’s a realm that can use all the Christian salt and light it can get. I just wish that we Christians would be more thoughtful (and dare I say scriptural) about how we express our Christianity. What I mean is, I’m sure there are some Christians among the New England Patriots’ coaches, players, organization, and fans. Doesn’t Jesus love them as much as He loves the Eagles? Didn’t He try to help them win too?

Just to show you that I’m not the only one who understands the problem, let me mention that Tony Dungy has come under considerable fire this week for his post-game comments and tweets about Nick Foles. There are numerous examples that I could cite here, but I’ll go with The New York Post, which ran an article entitled “Tony Dungy Under Fire For Saying Foles Played Well Because He’s A Christian.” That article’s opening line was, “How much credit does Jesus deserve for the Eagles’ Super Bowl LII victory?” Trust me, that’s not a question that paints Christianity in a good light.

To Dungy’s credit, he has sincerely tried to clarify the meaning behind his words and tweets about Foles. In one tweet, he said:

NBC pays me to express my opinion. And it was my opinion that Nick Foles would play well because his Christian faith would allow him to play with confidence. And that he’s a good QB. I think I was right on both counts.

In another tweet, he dove even deeper into Christian doctrine when he wrote:

Why would you find it hard to believe that the Holy Spirit could speak to Nick Foles just as much as a coach could speak to him? If he credited a coach for saying, “Stay calm and be confident” that’s good. But if he tells me Christ says that to him I shouldn’t report it???

You say, “Wow, those tweets sound like a pretty good response to the critics.” Perhaps they do, but they also leave the door wide open for writers like Kyle Koster, of the website http://www.thebiglead.com, to respond by asking, “Would Dungy have credited another faith for grounding a quarterback?” This is how the back and forth has been going since Sunday, and I think I’ve said enough about it now to give you the gist of it. So let me get back to my reason for writing this post, a reason that has nothing to do with whether Tony Dungy should have the right to use his job with NBC to promote Christianity. That’s another post for another time.

What I’m trying to do here is make the case that we, as Christians, really need to stop leaving people with the impression, sometimes subtle and sometimes not so subtle, that it’s all high times and grandiose experiences when you walk with Jesus. Let me put it this way: I don’t have a problem with what Pederson, Foles, and Dungy said about Jesus; what I have a problem with is what they didn’t say about Him. To illustrate what I mean, let me offer some possible quotes for your consideration.

What if Doug Pederson had walked to that podium and said something like this?

“The Jesus Christ who gave me this opportunity to win this Super Bowl is the same Jesus Christ who also gave me the opportunity to:

  • not get drafted by any NFL team as a player coming out of Northeast Louisiana University
  • play in the World League of American Football for a full season until I could drum up enough interest to get signed by an NFL team
  • be a backup quarterback for 99% of my thirteen-year professional career as an NFL player
  • suffer a broken jaw after throwing two touchdown passes in a game for the Green Bay Packers
  • have my last game in the NFL ended by a hit that cracked a bone in my back, broke a rib, and tore a muscle from my side
  • and begin my coaching career as a high school coach.”

Yes, Pederson has lived through all of that with Jesus. I checked his background. But unless you take the time to dig into Pederson’s past like, all you know is that Jesus gave him the opportunity to win the Super Bowl.

Along the same lines, what if Nick Foles had said something like this?

“The Jesus Christ who arranged things to get me to Philadelphia so that I could lead the Eagles to a Super Bowl win is the same Jesus Christ who was with me when I:

  • transferred from Michigan State to Arizona after my freshman season in college because I wasn’t getting any playing time
  • sat the bench for a while in Arizona because the coaches chose another quarterback to start over me
  • sat out two games my junior season after becoming the starter because I hurt my knee in a game against Washington State
  • lost my starting job in Philadelphia during my first stint there because I broke my hand in a game against the Washington Redskins
  • regained that starting job and had an awesome season in 2013 only to follow that up the next season with bad play that ended when I suffered a broken collarbone playing the Houston Texans
  • got traded by the Eagles to the St. Louis Rams in 2015
  • played badly for the Rams and was ultimately benched in favor of another quarterback
  • was released by the Rams in 2016 and signed by the Kansas City Chiefs, where I spent most of my time as a backup
  • was released by the Chiefs at the end of that season
  • and was signed again by the Eagles but only got the chance to play late in the season when the starting quarterback got hurt, a starter who will surely be back next season and is undoubtedly the future of the team.”

Yes, Foles has lived through all of that with Jesus. Again, a little research helps put Nick’s big day this past Sunday into honest perspective. But unless you take the time to dig into the man’s past, all you know is that Jesus brought him to Philadelphia to lead the Eagles to a Super Bowl victory.

As for Tony Dungy, what if he had said something like this?

“The Jesus Christ whom I believe had a special moment in mind for Nick Foles and helped him play calmly during the Super Bowl is the same Jesus Christ who helped me:

  • not get drafted as a quarterback coming out of the University of Minnesota
  • be forced to switch from playing quarterback to playing defensive back if I wanted to have an NFL career as a player
  • eventually retire as a player and go back to the University of Minnesota as an assistant coach for one year to begin my coaching career
  • devote the next fifteen years to putting in the untold hours required to serve as an assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Minnesota Vikings
  • become the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where I had several successful seasons until I was fired for not being able to get the team to the Super Bowl
  • become the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, where I suffered several difficult defeats in the playoffs until we finally won the Super Bowl
  • and get through the worst time of my life when my eighteen-year-old son, James, committed suicide in December of 2005.”

Yes, Dungy has lived through all of that with Jesus. His life is even more public record than Pederson’s life or Foles’ life. But unless you take the time to dig into Dungy’s past, all you know is that he believes that Jesus helped Nick Foles play well in the Super Bowl.

You see, Christian, when each of us gets right down to it there are no gaps in the resumes of our walk with Jesus. Yes, we’ve seen some good times, but we’ve also seen some bad ones. We’ve had our highs, but we’ve also had our lows. Our walk is real, our experiences are real, our faith is real, our life is real, our mountains are real, our valleys are real, and our salvation is real. We’ve all had the full course of training. Therefore, what we must now work on is taking the time to do a more thorough job of explaining to non-believers not only the ups and ins of our faith but also the downs and outs of it.

The simple truth is that what we have with Jesus cannot be summed up in a quick sound bite or tweet. It’s not something that only works when things are going great for us. Limiting it like that cheapens it and makes it come off sounding cheesy to skeptics. That’s why we mustn’t be afraid to bear our soul as Job did and admit that sometimes the Lord gives and other times He takes away (Job 1:21).

This, understandably, is the Jesus that a hurting world needs to hear about. This is the Jesus who knows how to minister to the losers, not just the winners. This is the Jesus who can relate to life’s soul-crushing experiences because He himself was despised, rejected, spit upon, scourged, and nailed to a cross.

This Jesus is not a cosmic Santa Claus. He’s not a spiritual sugar daddy. He’s not a genie in a prayer. He’s the one who wants to help you lay up treasure in heaven as opposed to laying it up in this life. He’s the one who understands that before He can bring His exquisite good out of the bad, He must first let you go through the bad. He’s the one who knows that human nature is such that we are far better equipped to learn from hard times than we are easy times.

Summing things up, this is the Jesus of the days, weeks, months, years, and even decades when the victory doesn’t come. This is the Jesus who walks in when everybody else walks out. This is the Jesus who abides when others abandon. This is the Jesus of the Bible. This is the Jesus who is right now seated at the right hand of God the Father in heaven. This is the Jesus we all need, whether we ever acknowledge that need and believe in Him or not.

 

 

Posted in Adversity, Desires, Disappointment, Evangelism, God's Will, God's Work, Human Life, Perseverance, Personal, Problems, Prosperity, Sports, Suffering, The Holy Spirit, Trials, Trusting In God, Waiting | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Waiting on God’s Best

Posted on February 5, 2018 by russellmckinney

Dr. Doug Cecil was an Associate Professor at Dallas Theological Seminary for many years and now serves on staff at Christ Chapel Bible Church in Fort Worth, Texas. He loves to use a quote from Orel Hershiser, one of the best pitchers ever to suit up for the Los Angeles Dodgers, as an illustration of how Satan tempts us. The quote comes from George Will’s book Men At Work: The Craft of Baseball, which takes a close look at four baseball players, Hershisher being one of them. On his philosophy of pitching, Hershiser says:

There are two theories of pitching. One is that you try to convince the batter that a particular thing is coming and you throw something different. The other theory, that you don’t hear as much, but that I use, is that if the batter expects a particular pitch, you throw it, but you throw it in a place where he can’t hit it.

Cecil then elaborates on Hershisher’s philosophy and employs it as an illustration by saying the following:

That is: Know what a batter expects and throw the ball almost there. If he is a highball hitter, throw it a bit too high. His eagerness will prevent him from laying off it, but it will be hard to hit well.

Isn’t this the way the enemy works in our life? He knows just what kind of pitch that we are a sucker for and then throws it our way. But, it is just a little higher or just a little bit more outside than where we like it, and most likely we will bite on it every time. After all, it looks so good. It feels so right.

Could it be that right now in your life you are swinging at a slightly askew pitch that looks good and feels right but isn’t something you can truly hit hard? Let me put it another way, are you somehow settling for “okay” when God’s BEST is still out there for you if you will wait for it? Don’t let Satan tempt you into swinging at his pitch of temptation when God stands ready to throw you a slow, straight, easy-to-crush batting practice fastball you can hit for a home run.

Posted in Choices, Desires, God's Provision, God's Will, Impatience, Needs, Patience, Satan, Temptation, The Devil, Waiting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Christian Verses” Podcast: John 18:37b-38a

Posted on February 3, 2018 by russellmckinney

This week’s “Christian Verses” podcast centers around John 18:37b-38a, the passage where Pontius Pilate famously asks Jesus, “What is truth?” We are living in a world in which the idea of absolute truth is under full-scale attack. We hear people say things like: “What is true for you isn’t necessarily true for me.” “Don’t try to force your values upon me.” “How can you say that Christianity is the only true religion?” This has led to a definite blurring of the lines between what is right and what is wrong as moral absolutes have been tossed out the window. Malcolm and I discuss this whole subject in depth on the podcast.

https://soundcloud.com/user-185243867/christianverses2018003

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A Generation That Had to Die Off

Posted on February 1, 2018 by russellmckinney

I once heard a preacher’s thoughts regarding a troubled church. He said something to the effect, “There is a generation that is going to have to die off there before God can get in there and change things.” The preacher wasn’t mad when he made that statement. He wasn’t trying to be cruel or cold. Really, he had no relationship to the church in question. He was simply conveying a matter-of-fact assessment that, at least in his opinion, was true.

Let’s face is, sometimes the old guard is the problem. “We’ve never done it that way before.” “That’s not how we do things at this church.” “What makes you think you can come in here and change everything?” These are the classic statements of the old guard of a dying church.

When I think about this subject, my mind goes to that generation of Israelites who refused to claim their promised land of Canaan because of cowardice. I won’t rehash the whole story, but you can read it for yourself in Numbers chapters 13 and 14. All I’ll note here is that because of their refusal to trust God and obey Him as He led them into a new place, He pronounced a death sentence upon every Israelite twenty years old or older. That resulted in all of those people dying off in Israel’s “wilderness wandering” over the course of the next 40 years. Only after all of them were dead did God bring Israel back to Canaan again for its conquering.

The point is that it was Israel’s younger generation who got to enjoy the blessing of claiming Canaan and settling there. As for the old guard, well, they proved that they just weren’t the right spiritual timber to get in on God’s highest and best. Sadly, this describes the older generation of far too many churches. These people have become so entrenched in their way of thinking, so set in their ways, that they either can no longer hear God’s voice or won’t listen to it.

I wonder how many churches could be listed under this same category. Could it be that God is sitting up in heaven waiting for a certain generation of leaders to die off so that He can revisit these churches and begin doing fresh, exciting work in them? I also wonder about myself. As I get older and become more set in my own ways, what kind of a church member do I make? Am I part of the solution or the problem? These are questions that all of us “over 50” Christians need to ask ourselves. One thing I know for sure is that I don’t want to die and be buried in a wilderness when a Canaan is there for the claiming.

Posted in Aging, Attitude, Change, Church, Courage, Death, Faith, Fear, God's Guidance, God's Work, Leadership, Ministry, Personal, Worship, Youth | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Church Boss

Posted on January 30, 2018 by russellmckinney

The epistles of 2 John and 3 John paint a small corner of a larger picture of what life was like in the early church. Those two epistles speak of how itinerant teachers would travel around to different places and enjoy the hospitality of the Christians who lived in those places. Since there weren’t hotels or motels on every corner in those ancient cities and towns, it was common practice for Christians to put fellow Christians up for the night and offer them a meal (Romans 12:9-13). Even more than that, since the congregations of the early church were “house churches” (Romans 16:3-5; 1 Corinthians 16:19; Colossians 4:15; Philemon 1:1-2) that met in homes, if a teacher spent a day or two in a home that served as the meeting place for a “house church,” that teacher would be asked to speak to that congregation.

Now, after reading that you might think, “That all sounds just fine. What could go wrong with such a practice?” Actually, however, there were a couple of problems that developed.

Problem #1 was that some Christian homeowners showed a serious lack of discernment in regards to knowing the difference between true teachers and false teachers. For example, the epistle of 2 John is written to a specific woman who showed hospitality to so-called “Christian” teachers who taught that Jesus was something less than God in human flesh — either that He wasn’t fully divine or fully human (v.9). John’s loving rebuke to that Christian lady was, “If anyone comes to you and does not bring the doctrine of Christ, do not receive him into your house or even greet him, because if you do you will be sharing in his evil deeds” (v.9-11).

Problem #2 was the exact opposite of problem #1, and it’s the one that John addresses in the epistle of 3 John. A certain Christian (at least he called himself a Christian) named Diotrephes refused to allow the homes of anyone who attended his local congregation to be opened to traveling teachers, even genuinely God-called teachers who spoke the truth (v.10). He wouldn’t even allow the apostle John or John’s traveling companions to be received (v.9). Furthermore, he spoke malicious words against John (v.10).

And what happened if one of Diotrephes’ fellow church members broke ranks with his standing order by showing hospitality to a traveling teacher? Diotrephes would have that church member excommunicated (“churched”) from the congregation (v.10). The situation was so bad that John actually sent a letter, one now lost to history, to that congregation to address the problem. True to form, though, Diotrephes either refused to allow that letter to be read or, even worse, destroyed it (v.9).

Standing in stark contrast to Diotrephes was a Christian named Gaius, to whom the letter of 3 John is addressed (v.1). Since “Gaius” was a very common name in the first century (Acts 19:29, 20:4; Romans 16:23; 1 Cor. 1:14), it’s hard to say with certainty who this man was. Some speculate that he was a pastor whose home was used for a “house church.” Others think he was a member of the congregation Diotrephes attended. All we know for sure is what John tells us about him, which is:

  • Gaius was beloved, especially by John. (v.1,2,5,11)
  • Gaius’ spiritual health was robust, even though it’s at least possible that his physical health was somehow lacking. (v.2)
  • John had heard glowing reports from others about the hospitality that Gaius extended to traveling Christian teachers. (v.3, 5-8)
  • Gaius was either one of John’s personal converts to Christ or one of the members of the churches over which John had apostolic authority. (v.4)
  • John hoped to visit Gaius shortly and have a good visit with him. (v.13-14)

Another Christian that John praises in 3 John is Demetrius. John describes him as a man who has “a good testimony from all” (v.12). The praise that John lavishes on both Gaius and Demetrius evidences the fact that many of the Christians of the early church were kindhearted, selfless people who enjoyed being able to help any Christian teacher who was out and about ministering to others. It seems that Diotrephes was the exception rather than the rule.

Nevertheless, Diotrephes was a major problem not only to his particular congregation but to unbelievers outside the church who could use his actions to say, “Those Christians can’t even get along with themselves.” John describes him as one who “loves to have the preeminence among them” (v.9), and the Greek word translated there as “preeminence” literally means “to be fond of being first.” That was Diotrephes up one side and down the other. He didn’t see his local congregation as a place where he could serve Jesus Christ by humbling serving others. Instead, he saw it as a place where he could be the egomaniacal dictator who could lord over the congregation and bully it into bending to his warped will. It’s no wonder that many commentators take John’s words from 3 John v.11 to indicate that Diotrephes wasn’t even a true Christian.

Unfortunately, Diotrephes can still be found in many churches today even though he has been dead for some 2,000 years. He’s the church member who has to run the show. She’s the member through whom all decisions must flow. He’s the one who single-handedly prevents the church from moving forward into God’s will and blessings. She’s the one no church member would dare vote against or cross. In his commentary The Epistles of John, Oliver B. Greene writes the following concerning Diotrephes:

There are such men in the local churches today, men who, if they would tell the truth when asked if they belong to the church, would reply, “I do not belong to the church — the church belongs to ME.” There ARE churches (and to my sorrow I have been in a few of them) that are not run by God or by the pastor — nor even by the board of deacons — but by one person. Sometimes that person is a man; occasionally, sad to say, it is a woman; but in such instances, the whole church does what that one person commands.

Greene gives pastors a bit of a break in that quote, but the truth is that some pastors do cross the line into Diotrephes territory. While multiple New Testament passages grant the pastor the rule over the local congregation (Acts 20:28; 1 Thess. 5:12; 1 Tim. 5:17; Hebrews 13:7,17,24), this ruling is to be carried out by a pastor who is “not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous” (1 Tim. 3:3, N.K.J.V.). Likewise, the pastor should be “not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled” (Titus 1:7-8, N.K.J.V.)

Peter, who was a hot-headed natural born leader himself, summed up the pastor’s leadership role best when he said to pastors:

Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock… (1 Peter 5:2-3, N.K.J.V., emphasis mine)

As for any other type of “church boss” — whether that person be a deacon, a deacon’s wife, a treasurer, a trustee, a Sunday School teacher, a member of the Building & Grounds committee, a member of the Finance committee, a member of the Pulpit committee, or just a regular lay person who sees advantages in not holding an official title but who dominates everything anyway — Jesus offers a clear word on the subject. And it’s a word that I’ll use as a close to this post. Read carefully, Christian, and understand how this word should manifest itself in any local church setting, including the one in which you find yourself right now:  

But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave — just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28, N.K.J.V.)

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