God’s Worst Form of Earthly Judgment

Posted on November 4, 2016 by russellmckinney

Okay, quick, name the worst judgment that God ever inflicted upon someone. If you answered, “Sending that person to hell,” give yourself a gold star. After all, there simply cannot be anything worse than eternal judgment. But eternal judgment involves God judging the deceased, so now let’s narrow the beam to deal exclusively with earthly judgment. In other words, let’s talk about which of the Bible’s examples of judgments is the worst in regards to God judging the living.

How about Noah’s flood as a contender (Genesis chapters 6-8)? Well, that one certainly involved the most deaths, but once it began the fatalities didn’t have to experience it for long. Fire and brimstone raining down upon Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:1-30)? As catastrophic as that event was, it was over pretty quickly for the judged. Lot’s wife looking back toward Sodom and being turned into a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26)? That only took as long as one look.

What about Pharaoh and the ten plagues (Exodus chapters 7-12)? That judgment did last longer than the aforementioned ones, probably playing itself out over several months, but most Egyptians survived it. Pharaoh’s army being drowned in the Red Sea (Exodus 14:1-31)? Again, once those sea walls started crashing back together, judgment came swiftly.

The ground opening up and swallowing Korah and his group of rebels (Numbers 16:1-50)? They were here one minute, gone the next. Nadab and Abihu being killed by fire that went out from the Lord (Leviticus 10:1-3)? That’s a painful way to die but a relatively fast one. Belshazzar seeing the handwriting on the wall (Daniel 5:1-31)? He was slain that very night. Herod Agrippa I being struck by an angel and dying (Acts 12:20-24)? The Jewish historian Josephus says Herod lingered just five days before breathing his last.

I’m really not trying to downplay the severity of these examples of God’s judgment, but I am postulating that a reasonably fast judgment might not be as harsh as a painstakingly slow one. Think about every movie you’ve ever seen where someone does a condemned person a “favor” by killing him quickly. For example, the guy about to be tortured is told by his torturer, “Tell me what I want to know, and I’ll make sure you die quickly.” The idea is that getting it over as quickly as possible is the best you can do in that situation. Okay, similarly, I’m saying that a case can be made that the same thing is true concerning earthly judgment.

And so, what is the worst judgment that God has ever inflicted upon someone who was alive upon the earth? I would submit that it is when He completely takes His influence off an individual’s life, stops bringing that individual under conviction for sins, foregoes trying to help that individual do better, takes all the restraints off that individual’s life, and turns that individual loose to run wild. As my friend Dale Dellinger used to tell the middle school baseball players we coached, “Boys, don’t feel bad whenever I fuss at you and try to get you to play better. The time to start worrying is when I stop fussing at you. Because that will mean that I’ve given up on you.” You see, once God has stopped working with a person, that person can live on in that state for days, months, years, and even decades, and when the person is in that state, his or her life becomes a relentless domino chain of wrong choices, bad decisions, ungodly behavior, and devastating consequences.

The Bible passage that describes this type of earthly judgment is Romans 1:18-32. Those verses talk about the general downward spiral of the entire human race. That historical process played out as follows:

  1. Going way back into the early days of the post-flood era, long before Abraham, Moses, and Israel, people anywhere in the world could look at creation itself and reach the common-sense conclusion that there must be a Creator God. (verses 19,20)
  2. Even though people realized there must be a Creator God, they didn’t glorify Him as God, weren’t thankful to Him, and suppressed the truth about Him. (verses 18,21)
  3. Once these people had made the willful decision not to worship the true God, they started creating man-made idols and worshiping them as gods. In other words, they chose false gods of their own creation over the real God and exchanged the truth of God for their lying versions of Him. (verses 22,23,25)
  4. Once the world’s races brought idolatry and false religion onto the scene in a prolific way, rather than fighting to maintain His place in their hearts, God “gave them up” to fulfill all the unclean lusts of their hearts and commit the unfitting, ungodly acts that came from their debased minds and dishonored their bodies. (verses 24,26,28)
  5. These acts included: lesbianism (v.26), homosexuality (v.27), all kinds of other sexual immorality (v.29), unrighteous acts (v.29), wicked acts (v.29), malicious acts (v.29), acts of envy (v.29), murders (v.29), acts of strife (v.29), acts of deceit (v.29), and acts of evil-mindedness (v.29).
  6. As the people became accustomed to and comfortable with all these sinful acts, the basic character of the individuals themselves quickly downgraded as they lost what moral center they had ever known. Here is where the passage stops describing the acts and starts describing the people. It calls them: whisperers (gossips) (v.29), backbiters (v.30), haters of God (v.30), violent (v.30), proud (v.30), boasters (v.30), inventors of evil things (v.30), disobedient to parents (v.30), undiscerning (v.31), untrustworthy (v.31), unloving (v.31), unforgiving (v.31), and unmerciful (v.31).
  7. In the final stage of the whole process, the people reached a point where even though they still retained enough instinctive knowledge about God to know that all these sins make a person deserving of death, they continued to not only commit them but grant their approval to anyone who else who committed them. (verse 32)

Tragically, this same basic pattern continues on in the midst of the world’s population today. Even though the specifics of our idolatries have changed, how God responds when we purposefully chose to worship anything or anyone besides Him hasn’t. He eventually reaches a point where He says, “Fine, go do as you wish. Take your full measure of rebellion.”

Perhaps now you are beginning to see why I believe that God giving rebels up to live any way they want to live is in a very real sense a worse form of judgment upon the human race than Noah’s flood was. With Noah’s flood, the influence of the wicked came to a dead (literally) halt virtually overnight. No longer would those people corrupt others. No longer would they produce offspring to follow in their ways. No longer would they ruin whatever good God was trying to do upon the earth. Like ripping off a band aid, God’s judgment upon them was quick, painful, and done.

But once mankind’s rebellion and rejection of God started all over again after the flood, God chose a different course for judgment. Rather than wipe the slate clean again and start over one more time, He basically said, “If you’d rather have your false gods than Me, then we’re done here. I’m out. Go do your hearts’ desires.” And, of course, mankind’s great problem has always been that our inborn Adamic nature creates desires in us that, when fulfilled, ultimately bring about destruction, misery, and death. It’s not like our natural desires are to study the Bible, pray, go to church, be kind to others, give freely, and live lives of moral purity.

This explains how we ended up with the world that we’ve got. Is God still dealing with some people, convicting them of their sins, teaching them, guiding them, working with them, molding them, shaping them, and using them in His service? Absolutely. There are millions of such people around the world right now. Sadly, however, these millions are trying to accomplish the impossible task of fixing a worldwide spiritual and moral mess that has taken thousands of years and billions of lost people to produce. You say, “Russell, you sound pessimistic that we are going to get this thing turned around.” Yep. It’s like sticking your finger in one hole of the dam when the whole dam has a huge crack working down the middle of it.

So, now let me get to my reason for writing this post. My primary motivation here is to warn you, the reader, about resisting God to the point where He stops striving with you. In relation to lost people, this is exactly what Jesus described as the unpardonable sin. He said, “…he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation” (Mark 3:29, Matthew 12:31-32). And what does it mean to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit? It means that you reject the Holy Spirit’s conviction until He stops offering that conviction altogether. From that moment, you will still need to be saved but you will never again sense that need in a great enough way to act upon it no matter how much longer you live. Consequently, you will go your sinful way, live out your rebellious life without any hindrance from God, and in so doing accumulate all the more judgment for your eternal account.

But what about the Christian? Can he or she commit the unpardonable sin? No. Why not? It’s because the Christian has already embraced the Holy Spirit’s conviction and allowed the Holy Spirit to win him or her to Jesus for the forgiveness of all sin.

Ah, but what the Christian can do is commit what 1 John 5:16 calls “the sin unto death” (K.J.V.) or “the sin that brings death” (H.C.S.B.). What is this sin? In the case of some of the Christians of Corinth, it was their ongoing sin in how they observed the Lord’s Supper. There came a point when God reached the end of His patience with their irreverent behavior and caused some of them to die because of that behavior (1 Corinthians 11:23-34). On the other hand, in the case of Ananias and Sapphira, who were a Christian couple in the early church, God struck them dead for lying about their contribution concerning a piece of land they had sold (Acts 5:1-11).

By putting these two stories together we learn that the sin that brings physical death for the Christian isn’t a cookie-cutter kind of deal where one size fits all. Sometimes it can be simply the last sin in an ongoing lifestyle of sin, a sin that at last pushes God’s mercy one step too far for the person to be allowed to keep living. Other times it can be a sudden, calamitous sin that immediately brings fatal results. Either way, it should be understood that the Christian’s soul still goes to heaven. The judgment is a shortened earthly life rather than lost salvation. It’s the unpardonable sin that gets into the area of salvation (or the lack of it), not the sin unto death.

So, regardless of your spiritual standing with God, let me warn you against resisting His conviction or leading when you feel either one. If you are not a Christian, rejecting God in this way is the deadliest game of Russian Roulette you can play because you just never know when He will decide to never send conviction your way again. At that point, you will go your own sinful way for the rest of your life until you die and have your soul go to hell. In that sense, not only will God’s judgment be slow, it will be eternal.

On the other hand, if you are a Christian, you need to be careful too because if you chose to reject God’s conviction and leading and consistently forge ahead going your own rebellious way, you will run the risk of literally shortening your days upon this earth. Trust me, Ananias, Sapphira, and those Corinthians weren’t the last Christians to shorten their lives by their sinful conduct. 1 John 3:16 is still in the Bible for a reason.

Obviously, neither one of these outcomes is desirable, but the good news is that you don’t have to experience either one as long as you remain sensitive, open, and obedient to God’s leading and conviction. And so, I’ll close this post by asking you this two-fold question: “How are you doing these days on sensing God the Holy Spirit’s influence in your life, and are you obeying what He tells you to do or rejecting it?” I encourage you to be honest as to how you answer this question, and if you have some work to do in this area, get it done as quickly as possible because some immeasurably high stakes might be riding on how just how quickly you get it done. Remember, God’s earthly judgment is real, and you certainly don’t want any of it falling on you.

Posted in Backsliding, Choices, Death, Decisions, Depravity, Desires, Disobedience, Faithfulness, God's Wrath, God's Judgment, Homosexuality, Human Life, Idolatry, Lesbianism, Lust, Obedience, Rebellion, Repentance, Salvation, Sex, Sin, The Heart, The Sin Unto Death, The Unpardonable Sin | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Humility

Posted on November 2, 2016 by russellmckinney

When boxer Muhammad Ali was in his prime, he was quite full of himself and loved to brag about his greatness. Some of this was done in a calculated way for show in order to promote his fights. Much of it, though, was simply the overflow of Ali’s sizable ego. One day he boarded an airplane and had a stewardess remind him to fasten his seat belt. In his typical, brash way, Ali told her, “Superman don’t need no seat belt.” To that, the stewardess replied, “Superman don’t need no airplane either.” Zing.

Humility is a subject that everyone needs to master but a course that no one wants to take. I’m reminded of that story about the young preacher who was scheduled to preach his first sermon. Whereas most young preachers are nervous their first time in the pulpit, this young man was exceedingly confident in his own abilities. So, when he was called upon, he didn’t just walk to the pulpit from his seat in the front row of the congregation, he strutted up there. Then he opened his Bible, read his text, launched into his sermon, and proceeded over the next fifteen minutes to bomb in a colossal way. He stuttered. He stammered. He rambled. He forgot half of what he was going to say. It was all very embarrassing and humbling.

Finally, he decided to concede defeat, cut his losses, close the sermon, and meekly return to his seat. Following the service, he wanted to get out of that church as quickly as possible without having to speak to anyone. But no sooner had the last “Amen” been said than an elderly woman came walking toward him. She seemed sweet, pleasant, and compassionate, and so the young preacher thought to himself, “This might not be so bad. She probably just wants to tell me that I did alright and offer me some encouragement.” What he got from her, though, was some sage wisdom. She said, “Young man, if you had gone into the pulpit the way you came out of it, you would have come out of it the way you went into it.”

2 Chronicles 7:14 is known as the great “revival” verse. The context for it is God talking to King Solomon about what Israel should do during any potential times of drought, locust-infestation, or pestilence. God says of such times:

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. (N.K.J.V.)

It’s noteworthy that the first item on God’s list for healing isn’t praying, seeking His face, or even turning from wickedness. Instead, it’s showing humility. That should tell us just how much God values humility. I might add that it’s relatively easy to show humility when you’ve had the snot knocked out of you by drought, locust-infestation, pestilence, or a bombed sermon. It’s much, much harder, though, to show it when the weather is fine, the crops are good, and you are excelling at what you do. I guess that’s what got Muhammad Ali into trouble on that airplane that day, and I guess it’s what gets us into trouble too. So, let’s all learn the lesson: Not one of us is Superman, and even if we were life has kryptonite around every corner.

Posted in Adversity, Attitude, Character, Disappointment, Humility, Preaching | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

When Your Life Becomes an Object Lesson

Posted on October 31, 2016 by russellmckinney

One of the hardest roles God ever calls one of His servants to play is that of a walking/talking object lesson. Since you’ve probably never heard a sermon on this topic, I’ll use a prime example from the Bible as an illustration. That example’s name is Hosea.

Hosea was a God-ordained prophet who prophesied during the era when the nation of Israel was divided into two separate kingdoms: Judah in the south and Israel in the north. Over the course of his long ministry, Hosea primarily prophesied to the northern kingdom, Israel. Like any prophet, his prophesying involved words spoken and written.

However, Hosea’s ministry differed in the fact that God also called him to prophesy by way of his marriage. Incredibly, God wanted Hosea’s marriage to serve as an object lesson that depicted the covenant relationship between faithful God and idolatrous Israel. In the object lesson, God was represented by the steadfast Hosea, while Israel was represented by Gomer, Hosea’s unfaithful wife (Hosea 1:3).

At the very onset of Hosea’s ministry, God’s opening words to him were, “Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry. For the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the Lord” (Hosea 1:2). This blunt command has prompted differing interpretations from commentators. Some point out that under the Mosaic law women who were sexually immoral before marriage were to be stoned to death rather than married (Deuteronomy 22:13-24). These commentators thus conclude that Gomer must not have become a harlot until sometime after her marriage to Hosea.

To further bolster this interpretation, the argument can also be made that Israel as a nation didn’t go “a whoring” (Judges 8:33, K.J.V.) after false gods until they were in the land of Canaan. That would have been after the nation had entered into covenant marriage with God. This interpretation of Gomer’s sexual immorality is why some modern translations of Hosea 1:2 forego words such as “whoredoms” (K.J.V., N.R.S.V.), “harlotry” (N.K.J.V., N.A.S.B., the Amplified Bible), and “prostitute” (N.L.T) in favor of more watered-down words such as “adulterous” (N.I.V.) and “promiscuous” (H.C.S.B.).

In the other corner, though, we have the commentators who take God’s command in its simplest and most literal way and contend that Gomer was nothing short of an actual prostitute when Hosea married her. And there are two very strong pieces of evidence that support this interpretation. First, Hosea 1:2 uses the Hebrew word zanah, the Old Testament’s classic term for a harlot. Second, since God didn’t specify the name of the woman whom Hosea was to marry, Gomer must have been Hosea’s own choice.

And why is this matter of Gomer being Hosea’s choice so important? It’s because if Gomer wasn’t sexually promiscuous before Hosea married her, how could he have thought of a marriage to her as fulfilling God’s command to take a wife of harlotry? It’s not like Hosea could peer into the future, see the chaste Gomer becoming sexually impure sometime after their marriage, and say, “This girl will do, Lord. She’s not a harlot now but I know she will be one day.” That makes no sense.

Someone says, “But what about the fact that Israel as a nation didn’t go ‘a whoring’ after other gods until after they were in Canaan, which was after they had entered into a covenant marriage with God?” The answer is that the question is based upon a wrong assumption. You see, God chose Israel as His bride even when she was already in the midst of idolatry. He did that when He called an idol worshiper named Abram (Abraham), who lived in the idol-worshiping city of Ur, to be the father of the Jewish race (Genesis 12:1-3, Joshua 24:1-3, Acts 7:1-3).

Since Old Testament times were marked by idolatrous religions whose “worship” services featured bizarre sex acts done in the names of false gods, it’s possible that Gomer was a temple prostitute who worked for the priests of the false gods Baal and Ashtoreth. The northern kingdom was certainly marked by the worship of those gods. On the other hand, perhaps Gomer was simply a common harlot who sold herself to any man who was willing. Either way, God commanding Hosea to marry such a woman almost defies belief. In his commentary Be Amazed, Warren Wiersbe entitles his first chapter on Hosea “You Married a What?” Likewise, John Phillips, in his commentary Exploring the Minor Prophets, describes God’s command as follows:

He could hardly believe his ears. Hosea was a young, God-fearing, idealistic, pure-minded, clean-living man, and the voice told him to marry a whore? Is this God speaking? he must have asked himself. Or is it a demon?”

And so how did the marriage between Hosea and Gomer work out? Well, it started out good enough as Gomer bore Hosea a son they named Jezreel (Hosea 1:3-4). Then she conceived again and gave birth to a daughter they named Lo-Ruhamah (Hosea 1:6). Then she conceived a third time and gave birth to another son, which they named Lo-Ammi (Hosea 1:8-9). Each of those names had a prophetic meaning for the nation of Israel, but I won’t go into all that right now because it’s not my topic.

So, now Hosea had a wife, three children, and a prophetic ministry. Things were working out just fine, right? Wrong. After the birth of that third child, the next time we read anything about Gomer she is living with another man and is committing adultery against Hosea (Hosea 3:1).

Actually, there are some who believe that Hosea was not even the father of those last two children. This idea stems from the fact that the Bible specifically says of Jezreel, the firstborn, “and she conceived and bore him (Hosea) a son,” but concerning those last two children it simply says “she conceived” and makes no mention of Hosea (Hosea 1:6, 8). Also, the third child’s name, Lo-Ammi, means “Not My People.”

Symbolically speaking, God was no doubt saying something to Israel via the name of that third child, but it’s also possible that the name applied literally to Hosea for not being Lo-Ammi’s father. At any rate, regardless of whether or not all this circumstantial evidence proves that those last two children weren’t Hosea’s, it is undeniable that by Hosea 3:1 Gomer had left Hosea and was playing the role of the adulteress by living with another man. Presumably, that meant that she had left her three children behind as well.

Okay Hosea, now the ball is in your court. What are you going to do about Gomer’s infidelity? Surely, it’s high time you formally divorced this loose woman and let the other guy have her. Good riddance.

But wait a minute, since your marriage to Gomer is a public object lesson that depicts God’s covenant marriage to Israel, that would mean that God is divorcing Himself from Israel and will have nothing else to do with her. And God isn’t doing that. So, obviously, you’ve got a real dilemma on your hands, Hosea.

It is at this critical juncture that God again speaks to Hosea and gives him a command. God tells him, “Go and get your wife again. Bring her back to you and love her, even though she loves adultery. For the Lord still loves Israel even though the people have turned to other gods, offering them choice gifts” (Hosea 3:1, N.L.T.).

And would you believe that Hosea obeys this command by actually buying Hosea back for a price of fifteen shekels of silver and one-and-a-half homers of barley (Hosea 3:2)? This was not an exorbitant price, just a little more than half the price of a slave (Exodus 21:32). The price was so low because Gomer had cheapened herself that much.

That’s where the Bible’s record of the story of Hosea and Gomer pretty much ends. Once Hosea has purchased her back to himself, he tells her, “You must live in my house for many days and stop your prostitution. During this time, you will not have sexual intercourse with anyone, not even with me” (Hosea 3:3, N.L.T).

This time of total celibacy on Gomer’s part would prophetically illustrate that there was coming a time in Israel when the nation would spend many days without a king, a prince, a place of sacrifice, or priests (Hosea 3:4). This time period began when the Romans destroyed the Jewish temple in 70 A.D. and it continues today. There is coming a time, though, when God will restore Israel to Himself (Hosea 3:5). This will be fulfilled in Christ’s millennial reign upon the earth, which will begin at the end of the Tribulation period.

Unfortunately for those of us who want to know, the Bible doesn’t offer any follow-up details as to how the remainder of Hosea and Gomer’s marriage went. Since God and Israel are going to end up living “happily ever after,” perhaps Hosea and Gomer did as well. But it’s not their marriage that I’m emphasizing with this post. My emphasis is the God-ordained object lesson that Hosea’s life became.

Trust me, living that kind of life and performing that kind of service to the Lord isn’t easy. You have to die to your wants, your wishes, your desires, and your dreams. You don’t get to go where you want to go and do what you want to do. Some people mock you. Others pity you. All of them under appreciate you. It’s not a life for the faint of heart.

But is it one to which God still calls some of his choicest servants today? I believe it is. It’s just a shame that so few of us nowadays have the spiritual discernment to spot such a life being lived before us. Then again, most of those people in Israel probably didn’t have a clue what they were seeing in Hosea’s marriage to Gomer, either.

Posted in Dying To Self, Faithfulness, God's Love, God's Will, God's Work, Idolatry, Marriage, Ministry, Prophecy, Reconciliation | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

How’s Your Driving These Days?

Posted on October 29, 2016 by russellmckinney

Lee Strobel, a Christian apologist and author, tells about a police officer who pulled over a car that was traveling at a strangely low speed. As the officer approached the driver’s window, he noticed that the car was full of elderly people, with the driver being a particularly old man. The officer asked the man, “Sir, why were you driving so slowly?” The man answered, “Because I saw a sign that read ’20’ and figured I’d better kept it under that speed.” The officer chuckled and said, “Sir, you misunderstood the sign. ’20’ is the number of the highway – not the speed limit.” Then the officer happened to notice that all the other passengers had faces that were pale white. He said, “Is everyone alright in here? You folks look scared to death. Don’t worry, I’m not going to write a ticket.” It was then that an elderly man in the backseat said, “You’re not the reason we’re scared, officer. We’re scared because we just got off highway ‘121′!”

Just as an easy-to-read highway sign can be taken two different ways by two different people, a Bible verse can create that same problem. For example, John 3:16 says: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Okay, got it – salvation comes by believing in Jesus. But hold on a minute. Ephesians 2:8 says: For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. So, are belief and faith the same thing?

And then there is John 1:12, which says: But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. Alright, now we are adding the idea of receiving Jesus. But then comes Romans 10:13, which says: For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Wow, so now we’ve got to believe, show faith, receive, and call on the Lord’s name to get saved. Whew, that’s a lot.

Oh, but we’re not done. Acts 2:38 says: Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” So, let me get this straight – in order to be saved we’ve got to: believe, show faith, receive, call on the Lord’s name, repent, and be baptized. Is that right?

No, that’s not all. 1 Timothy 4:10 says we must “trust in the living God.” Now we are putting trust on the list. And then there is Revelation 3:20, which says we must “open the door” and let Jesus “come into us.” Man, this whole salvation thing is getting really convoluted.

You see, it’s stuff like this, not just in regards to the topic of salvation but in regards to dozens of other Bible topics, that has created all the denominations, divisions, schisms, factions, and splinter groups in Christianity. For example, some preacher like Russell Mckinney will interpret all the aforementioned verses as follows:

  • Belief in Jesus and faith in Jesus are synonymous when it comes to salvation.
  • Receiving Jesus is just another way to describe that moment of belief or faith.
  • Calling on the Lord’s name is yet another way of describing that moment.
  • Trusting in the living God is yet another way of describing that moment.
  • Opening the door to Jesus to let Him come into you is yet another way of describing that moment.
  • Coming to Jesus inevitably involves a certain degree of repentance (turning from sin) because Jesus and your sins are never going in the same direction.
  • Peter specifically asked those Jews to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ because the nation of Israel that had worked so hard to get Jesus crucified just a few weeks earlier needed a publicly radical display of disassociation with that sin and a new, open, unabashed alignment with Jesus.

Okay, sure, all that makes sense. But, of course, that’s just one preacher’s interpretation, right? I mean, that’s just Russell Mckinney’s way of understanding the road signs ’20’ and ‘121.’ Another preacher and another Christian might understand them differently.

What am I saying? I’m saying that the Bible is an incredibly rich, diverse, and downright complicated book, and understanding it correctly involves serious time and work. When Christians know more about the upcoming elections than they do the Bible, that’s a problem. When they know more about their favorite ball teams than they do the Bible, that’s a problem. When they know more about the latest television shows, movies, or music than they do the Bible, that’s a problem. And even if they do know the Bible somewhat, if they’ve merely mastered the art of “cherry picking” certain verses here and there to fit what they want to believe, that’s a problem. That’s how you end up going either too slow or too fast.

Unfortunately, that is what’s happening today among not only individual Christians but also churches. We’re all reading God’s signs, but some of us are going too slow while others are going too fast. For that matter, some of us have pulled over and stopped altogether! Therefore, Christian, wherever you find yourself out there on the highway today, my advice to you is to devote yourself more fully to Bible study. That’s the only way you’ll ever be able to understand the signs correctly and run the speed God wants you to run.

Posted in Baptism, Belief, Bible Study, Faith, God's Word, Preaching, Repentance, Salvation, Scripture, Teaching, The Bible, Truth | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

“Lord, Why Am I Having to Wait?”

Posted on October 27, 2016 by russellmckinney

I was driving down the interstate one day, listening to a Christian radio station, when I happened to hear one of those little call-in promos such stations do. This promo featured a woman who had called the station to voice her appreciation for the station’s influence in her life. I listened as she explained how she had interviewed for a job she really needed and been forced to wait a week before finally hearing that she got the job. Shortly after hearing that she’d been hired, she called the radio station and through her tears talked about how we all just need to learn to be patient and trust God. So there I am, driving down the interstate, listening to this woman’s heartfelt testimony, and I’m sarcastically thinking, “Wow, you had to wait a whole week, huh?”

Now, I don’t use that illustration as a way of devaluing that woman’s experience. I’m sure that to her that week seemed like an eternity. But to those of us (and you know who you are) who have been waiting a long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long time for God to do a certain thing, one week seems like child’s play, right? Can I get an “Amen”?

Of course, the Bible stories on this topic are numerous. Abraham and Sarah waited twenty-five years to hold baby Isaac (Genesis 12:4, 21:5). Isaac and Rebekah waited twenty years to hold their twin babies, Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25:20-21,26). Joseph waited thirteen years to become a ruler in Egypt (Genesis 37:2, 41:46). Moses waited forty years in Midian before returning to Egypt to lead the Israelites (Acts 7:30). We don’t know exactly how old David was when Samuel anointed him as king (1 Samuel 16:1-13), but he had to wait until he was thirty years old before he reigned over the southern portion of Israel and another seven-and-a-half years before he reigned over the whole land (2 Samuel 2:4, 2:11, 5:4-5). The woman with the issue of blood waited twelve years before Jesus healed her (Luke 8:43-47). The woman who was stooped over and couldn’t raise herself erect waited eighteen years before Jesus healed her (Luke 13:10-13).

Keep in mind now that, as far as we know, not one of these people added even one day to their waiting because of their disobedience or lack of faith. No, the appointed times of their waiting were all somehow preordained by God, and all the praying in the world wouldn’t speed Him up any. His process had to run its course, and that’s all there was to it. While there are some Bible cases of people adding years to their wait time —the Israelites adding forty years to their conquering of Canaan is a classic example — there are more cases in which the characters don’t do one thing to deserve the incredibly long years it takes God to answer their prayers.

I often think of the people of Israel and their 400 years of bondage in Egypt. Question: What were they doing in Egypt anyway? Answer: God had pulled them out of Canaan and sent them down there so that Joseph could sustain them during a great famine. At that time the family patriarch had been Jacob, who had ended up spending the last seventeen years of his life in Egypt (Genesis 47:28).

All was well for Jacob’s family in Egypt until Joseph died and eventually a new Pharaoh, one who “did not know Joseph” (Exodus 1:8), came to power. When this new Pharaoh looked at the people of Israel, all he saw was a threat from a race who reproduced at a far greater rate than the Egyptians and could potentially align themselves with Egypt’s enemies during a time of war (Exodus 1:9-10). In the new Pharaoh’s mind, the Israelite threat had to be curtailed, and his way of doing it was to set taskmasters over them and force them to build cities for Egypt (Exodus 1:11). That was the beginning of not only four centuries of enslavement for the Israelites but also four centuries of them crying out to God, begging Him to deliver them.

You see, Israel didn’t do anything except mind God to get themselves into that fix, and they couldn’t do anything to shorten their days of waiting on His deliverance. Whether they understood it or not, they were living under the time clock of a prophecy that God had spoken centuries earlier to Abraham, the father of their race. God had told him, “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them for four hundred years” (Genesis 15:13). Really, the length of Israel’s waiting in Egypt had as much to do with God delaying judgment upon the inhabitants of Canaan as it had to do with Israel (Genesis 15:16).

And so how should you apply all of this to your life as you continue to wait on God to do that certain something in your life? Allow me to suggest two ways. First: You should consider the possibility that your waiting has more to do with others than it does you. The mere fact that God is making you wait doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s all somehow your fault. I suppose it could mean that (depending upon your situation), but it doesn’t have to mean that. Instead, it might just be that God is sorting some things out in the lives of others in your orbit.

Second: If you know that God has promised you something in your life, hang in there with Him and keep expecting the fulfillment of that promise until you receive it. Never forget that it’s always too soon to stop trusting God to keep His word to you. The Israelites in Egypt got no warning whatsoever that Moses was going to hit town one day with their deliverance, but suddenly there he stood with Aaron (Exodus 4:27-31). What had changed? Had the Israelites finally somehow stumbled upon just the right words in prayer? Nope. Had they finally managed to do everything God wanted them to do? Nope. Had they finally perfected their faith? Certainly not (as Moses would come to learn all too well). What had changed was the fact that God’s time clock had finally struck midnight and it was time to begin a new season in the nation’s history.

Here’s hoping that your clock is about to strike midnight like that. But before it does you should make sure that you know how to handle the deliverance. The best advice I can give you is to follow the Israelites’ example. The Bible says of them:

So the people of Israel believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped. (Exodus 4:31, NKJV)

That three-step reaction (believe, bow, worship) will still work today to show God that you are not only ready for His deliverance but appreciative of it. It’s so much better than saying, “Well, it’s about time, Lord! What took you so long?” So, you keep this in the back of your mind as you keep on looking for your Moses to hit town. Who knows? Today really could be the day.

Posted in Adversity, Belief, Comfort, Commitment, Desires, Disappointment, Doubt, Encouragement, Faith, Faithfulness, God's Timing, God's Sovereignty, God's Will, Impatience, Needs, Perseverance, Personal, Prayer, Prayer Requests, Problems, Prophecy, Suffering, Trials, Trusting In God, Waiting | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

One Reason Why God’s Will Rarely Gets Done

Posted on October 25, 2016 by russellmckinney

Suppose I wake up tomorrow morning and God burdens me to spend the day working on a new sermon based on John 3:16. Okay class, how many individuals are involved with me either doing God’s will by preparing that sermon or not doing it by spending the day doing something else?  Answer: One. In a situation like that, God getting His will done isn’t that hard because all He has to do is somehow get me to work on that sermon.

Now let’s suppose I wake up tomorrow morning and God burdens me to spend the day doing yardwork with my brother, Richie. Okay, now how many individuals are involved in whether or not God’s will gets done? Answer: Two. I’m still involved, but now Richie has entered into the equation as well. This means that God getting His will done is now twice as hard because He has to convince not only me but also Richie to do the yardwork. If one of us is obedient but the other one isn’t, the yardwork won’t get done, at least not in the way God wants it to get done.

Now let’s suppose I wake up tomorrow morning and God burdens me to spend the day with my two sons visiting the elderly at the local nursing home. Okay, now how many individuals are involved in whether or not God’s will gets done? Answer: Three. I’m involved and so are my two sons. This means that God getting His will done is now three times as hard because He has to convince not only me but also my two sons to do the visiting. Even if two of us are obedient but the other one isn’t, the visiting won’t get done, at least not in the way God wants it to get done.

By now you can see where I’m going with this. When it comes to God’s will, the more people who are involved the less likely God’s will is to get done. Putting it simply, one weak link ruins the chain, which means that a higher number of links equates to a greater chance of the chain failing. It’s basic math.

Several years ago, I was elected as the pastor of a church that was deeply divided over a particular issue. So, I spent my first few months there gathering the relevant information on the issue and figuring out what God wanted me to lead the church to do. Over the course of those months, I spent countless hours in prayer, seeking God’s guidance, dying to my own agenda, and asking Him to show me His will. It was a lengthy, time-consuming, arduous process. By the end of it, though, God had given me His answer and I led the church in that direction. Thankfully, most of the members agreed with the direction.

There was, however, a minority group who disagreed with it, and one of the women from that group talked with me immediately after the church vote. I told her how much I had prayed about the decision, how open-minded I had been to doing anything that God wanted done, and how confident I was that the direction was His will. But I’ll never forget her response. Concerning the answer I had received from God, she said, “That’s just not what I’m getting.” Obviously, that woman and I were at an impasse because one of us was in the wrong as to our discernment of God’s will.

While it was true that the majority of the church had agreed with the answer I had gotten, I knew that even majorities can be in the wrong. However, what I did trust was my own process of working through the decision with the Lord. I hadn’t gone into that process with any preconceived notions. I hadn’t reached a decision overnight. I hadn’t made a snap judgment. Consequently, those words, “That’s just not what I’m getting” didn’t cause me to quake in my shoes and question the direction in which I had just led the church. Instead, they made me realize more than ever how hard it is to get God’s will done in a fairly large setting of people.

Now, I’m happy to report that I eventually patched things up with that lady and she remained a faithful member of that church. I’m also happy to report that over the years I managed to mend most of the fences with the rest of that minority group. I’d be lying, though, if I said I got them all mended. Such is the life of a pastor, I guess. I trust that we’ll get it all straightened out in heaven one of these days.

To get back to the point of this post, though, one reason why God’s will rarely gets done in this world is the problem of the weak link. It doesn’t matter how submitted you are to doing God’s will, if you’re involved in a “chain” situation you are at the mercy of another (or others). Maybe this is why God oftentimes does His best work through individuals. When He can get one-on-one with a person, that makes it much easier for Him to get His will done.

So, today, let me encourage you to be that one person who seeks God’s will and does it. No, you can’t make everybody else follow your example, but what you can do is make sure that, as much as depends on you, God’s will gets done. That’s your link of the chain. And the good news is that even if the chain breaks down somewhere past you, you simply carrying out your link will make a sizable difference not only in your life but in the lives of others. Count on it.

Posted in Choices, Church, Criticism, Discernment, Disobedience, Doing Good, Doubt, Dying To Self, God's Will, Obedience, Pastors, Personal, Prayer, Preaching, Rebellion, Reconciliation | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

“Surely the Wrath of Man Shall Praise Thee”

Posted on October 23, 2016 by russellmckinney

The title for this post is taken directly from Psalm 76:10, the full text of which says:

Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee; the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. (K.J.V.)

But what does “Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee…” mean? It means that even when a person or a group of people rages against God, rebels against His will, thwarts His purposes, and becomes a roadblock to His plans, He can take all that bad stuff and recycle it to bring praise to Himself. As the New Living Translation renders the verse:

Human defiance only enhances your glory for you use it as a weapon.

There are numerous Bible examples of this promise in action. Here are some I thought of off the top of my head:

Example #1: Jacob was a saved believer and had God’s hand upon his life, but his unsaved uncle, Laban, frustrated Jacob’s life for twenty years. First, he deceitfully tricked Jacob into marrying Leah instead of Rachel (Genesis 29:15-30). Second, he was perfectly willing to set Jacob at what seemed to be a distinct disadvantage in their business partnership (Genesis 30:25-36). Third, he unscrupulously changed Jacob’s wages ten times over the course of Jacob’s years with him (Genesis 31:4-7).

But how did God flip all of Laban’s “wrath” around to where He received praise from it? He did it by blessing Jacob incredibly despite Laban’s actions. Even with Laban working as hard as he could against Jacob (and God), by the time the two men finally parted ways Jacob had been blessed with an exceedingly large family and large flocks of sheep and goats, flocks much larger than Laban’s (Genesis 31:8-10). As Jacob himself said of Laban, “God did not allow him to hurt me” (Genesis 31:7).

Example #2: Joseph was a young man destined for greatness with God, but his jealous brothers did everything they could to keep him from fulfilling that destiny. First, they mocked him for his prophetic dreams that foretold he would one day rule over them (Genesis 37:1-11). Second, they threw him into a pit in the wilderness (Genesis 37:12-24). Third, they sold him as a slave to a caravan of Ishmaelite traders who were headed to Egypt to do business (Genesis 37:25-28).

But how did God flip those brothers’ “wrath” around to where He received praise from it? He did it by eventually raising up Joseph to be the second-in-command of all Egypt. In this role, Joseph was able to save his entire family during a time of great famine. As Joseph himself would come to say of his brothers’ treachery toward him, “…you meant it for evil against me; but God meant it for good…” (Genesis 50:20).

Example #3: God’s plan was for Moses to lead the people of Israel out of their enslavement in Egypt, but Egypt’s Pharaoh stubbornly tried to prevent that from happening. First, he increased the workload upon the Israelites (Exodus 5:1-9). Second, despite nine plagues that God inflicted upon Egypt, Pharaoh still wouldn’t let the Israelites leave (Exodus chapters 7-10). Third, once Pharaoh had finally released the Israelites following the tenth plague, he changed his mind and had his army chase them down and trap them at the Red Sea (Exodus chapters 11-14).

But how did God flip Pharaoh’s “wrath” around to where He received praise from it? He did it by using those ten plagues to break Pharaoh’s stubbornness and by drowning Pharaoh’s army (and perhaps even Pharaoh himself) in the Red Sea (Exodus 14:1-31). As God Himself spoke to Pharaoh through Moses, “…for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth” (Exodus 9:16, Romans 9:17).

Example #4: Hezekiah was God’s anointed King over Judah, but Assyria’s King Sennacherib sent an army to bring Judah under his rule. Sennacherib started by attacking and capturing Judah’s fortified cities (2 Kings 18:13; 2 Chronicles 32:1; Isaiah 36:1). Then his army laid siege to Jerusalem, which allowed him to exact tribute money from Hezekiah and demand that Judah fully submit to Assyria (2 Kings 18:14-37; 2 Chronicles 32:2-19; Isaiah 36:2-22).

But how did God flip Sennacherib’s “wrath” around to where He received praise from it? He did it by sending the Angel of the Lord (an Old Testament preincarnate appearance of Jesus) to slay 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night (2 Kings 19:35; 2 Chronicles 32:20-22; Isaiah 37:36-38). Sennacherib then returned home to Nineveh, where he was assassinated by his two sons (2 Kings 19:36-37).

Example #5: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego proved their loyalty to God by refusing to bow down before the image of gold that Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar had erected (Daniel 3:1-18). Nebuchadnezzar responded to their refusal by having them thrown into a fiery furnace for execution (Daniel 3:19-23).

But how did God flip Nebuchadnezzar’s “wrath” around to where He received praise from it? He did it by keeping Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego safe in that furnace. They didn’t even have the smell of smoke on them when they were pulled from the furnace (Daniel 3:24-27). This prompted Nebuchadnezzar to praise God himself (Daniel 3:28), decree that anyone in his kingdom who spoke against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego would be put to death (Daniel 3:29), and promote the three young men (Daniel 3:30).

Example #6: Daniel proved his loyalty to God by continuing to pray to God three times a day despite King Darius’ decree that no one in his kingdom should make petitions to any man or god besides him for thirty days. Anyone who broke this decree was to be thrown into the lions’ den, a fate which befell Daniel.

But how did God flip Darius’ “wrath” around to where He received praise from it? He did it by sending an angel to keep Daniel safe inside the lions’ den (Daniel 6:19-22). Darius then had the men who had talked him into instituting the decree thrown to the lions, and the lions devoured them (Daniel 6:24). Darius also praised Daniel’s God and decreed that everyone in his kingdom must tremble and fear before that God (Daniel 6:25-28).

Example #7: Mordecai was God’s servant in the Medo-Persian kingdom ruled by King Ahasuerus, but a man named Haman despised Mordecai and plotted to have him hung (Esther 5:9-14). Even worse than that, Haman also enacted a plan by which all of the Jews in Ahasuerus’ kingdom would be put to death (Esther 3:1-15).

But how did God flip Haman’s “wrath” around to where He received praise from it? He did it by orchestrating a series of circumstances which led to Haman, not Mordecai, being hung on the gallows which had been built to hang Mordecai (Esther 7:1-10).

Okay, I’ll stop there to keep this from getting too long, but hopefully this limited list of examples is enough to prove the point. Yes, God really can cause the “wrath” of man to praise Him. For the record, this is all part and parcel to that famous verse from Romans, Romans 8:28, which promises:

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (N.K.J.V.)

So, keep all this in mind anytime someone does you a wrong turn and seems to get away with it. It might take a while for God to get the job completed, but He will eventually cause that wrongdoing to work out for your good and their bad. Even if the job extends out into eternity, God will get it done. In the end, all human “wrath” will only serve to praise Him. We just have to be patient and trust Him to bring this promise to pass.

Posted in Adversity, Disappointment, Doing Good, Encouragement, Faithfulness, God's Omnipotence, God's Judgment, God's Work, Patience, Persecution, Perseverance, Problems, Rebellion, Revenge, Reward, Sowing and Reaping, Trials, Trusting In God, Waiting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

An Interesting Thought About Politics

Posted on October 21, 2016 by russellmckinney

Let me begin by saying that I am a card-carrying member of the United States of America. I was born and raised here. I have a birth certificate. I have a driver’s license. I pay taxes. My children went to public school. My wife taught in a public school for 31 years. I’m registered to vote, and most elections I exercise that privilege. I’ve never even set foot outside America’s borders.

I say all this to let you know that this post isn’t a bashing of America or the American political process. I’m just want to draw your attention to what I’ve felt for years is an interesting thought from the Bible about politics in general. As for applying it to your life, there’s really no way you can. That being the case this isn’t some rah-rah “call to arms” kind of thing by which I’m trying to motivate you to go out and do something. Consider this, instead, just another little nugget of Biblical knowledge for your spiritual collection. And what is this thought that I find so interesting? It’s this: God didn’t establish a democracy in ancient Israel.

When the Israelites finally claimed the promised land of Canaan, Joshua was their national leader. He had replaced Moses in that role when Moses had died. But in claiming Canaan, the Israelites didn’t do a thorough enough job in either driving out or killing off the other races that called Canaan home. Consequently, long after Joshua’s death Israel had to deal with periodic military threats from those races. This is vividly on display in the book of Judges that follows the book of Joshua.

The time period of Israel’s Judges lasted for approximately 350 years. It’s important to note, though, that Israel’s Judges were not national leaders the way Moses and Joshua had been. They were, instead, regional leaders whom God raised up to deal with localized military threats as needed. It was true, however that once a person had been cast into the role of Judge, he (or she, in Deborah’s case) would serve in that capacity until death, and many of the Judges held the title for decades.

Israel’s last Judge was Samuel (1 Samuel 7:15), who also served as a Priest and a Prophet. Even though his home was in Ramah, each year he traveled a circuit that took him to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah (1 Samuel 7:16). At each stop he rendered decisions in regards to civil, religious, and military matters. The people of Israel loved Samuel, respected his wisdom, and obeyed his instructions. Everything worked well until Samuel grew too old to continue in his duties and made the mistake of installing his sons, Joel and Abijah, as his successors. Those two men did not walk in Samuel’s ways and were well known for chasing after dishonest gain, accepting bribes, and perverting justice (1 Samuel 8:3). Because of this the elders of the tribes of Israel got together and made a trip to Ramah to present Samuel with a request. They wanted Samuel to appoint a King over all Israel.

To say that Samuel wasn’t on board with the idea would be an understatement. He understood better than anyone that the people of Israel functioned at their idyllic best when they let God be their King and let Him speak to them through the Prophets, the Judges, and the Mosaic law. Scholars call this a Theocracy, as opposed to a Monarchy (where a King rules) or a Democracy. To his credit, though, Samuel took the matter to the Lord in prayer. He was probably hoping that God would tell him to take a strong stand against the idea, but God went in the opposite direction. His answer was, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them” (1 Samuel 8:7).

God did add in that Samuel should warn the people about the potential dangers of having a King, and Samuel certainly didn’t hold back in giving that warning. He told the people that a King would: make children serve as runners before his chariots; recruit citizens as forced labor to tend his crops and make his weapons of war; force young women to be his cooks, bakers, and perfumers; claim a tenth of all harvests and sheep as his own; and confiscate donkeys, servants, and the finest young men and make them do his work (1 Samuel 8:11-18).

We would think that such a graphic warning would have given the Israelites pause for concern about having a King, but it didn’t. Their response was, “We will have a King over us that we may be like all the other nations” (1 Samuel 8:19-20). Samuel then took that reply back to God, who had heard it anyway, and God said to Samuel, “Heed their voice, and give them a king” (1 Samuel 8:21-22). And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how ancient Israel got into the King business.

The time period of Israel’s Kings was very much a roller-coaster ride for the nation. Some of the Kings were godly men, but others weren’t. Even the godly ones sometimes did ungodly things. For example, even though Solomon might generally be classified as a godly King because he wrote three books of the Bible and oversaw the building of the Jewish temple, he also plunged the nation headlong into idolatry and inflicted so much burden upon the people that the nation underwent a civil war after his death. This split the nation into two kingdoms: the northern kingdom (called Israel) and the southern kingdom (called Judah). Naturally, with two kingdoms operating at any given time, you get two Kings operating at any given time. You can read all about it in the Bible’s books of 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, and 2 Chronicles.

But now let me get back to my topic. At no point in Israel’s history did God ever say, “Okay, now I’m going to abolish the Kingship and install a new concept called a democracy.” While this might seem strange to those of us who have never lived in anything but a democracy, there are definitely certain problems that come ingrained with any democracy. Consider the following:

  • In a democracy, the majority wins the vote. This works fine as long as the majority are godly people who vote as God would have them to vote. But what happens when the majority are ungodly and vote to suit themselves? At that point, God’s will doesn’t stand a chance. And, by the way, if you study your Bible, you will find that God’s people are just about always in the minority (Matthew 7:13-14).
  • In a democracy, everyone’s opinion counts. The problem with this is that many people couldn’t care less about God or His word. Consequently, when all voices are brought down to the same level, God’s voice doesn’t carry any real weight. His opinion becomes merely one more in a sea of opinions that all serve as little more than fodder for public debate.
  • In a democracy, once a nation reaches a low ebb spiritually and morally, it is virtually impossible to get things set back right again. Why is this? It’s because even if one person gets right with God and wants to begin a national revival, that person is just one person. Even if that person happens to be the President, his hands are still tied because even the President can’t impose his will in a democracy. Conversely, when a King rules, if God can get the King where he needs to be spiritually, the nation can be turned back to God almost overnight as the King decrees His orders and forces them to be carried out.

Please understand now that I’m not saying that there aren’t also potential problems with a Monarchy. Samuel himself laid out a pretty sizable list of those problems, and world history has taught us that even his list didn’t scratch the surface. I guess when you get right down to it any form of government can become a problem if ungodly people are dominating it. As Proverbs 29:2 says:

“When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked are in power, they groan.”  (New Living Translation)

So, my goal with this post has simply been to help you better understand how politics and God either mesh together or don’t mesh together. As I said, a democracy can work fine as long the godly are the majority and they vote in ways pleasing to God, but once that setup has been turned upside down then real trouble follows. That’s where we are in America today, and no one election that installs any one candidate is going to fix it.

Posted in Current Events, Government, Leadership, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Word American Christians Don’t Want to Hear

Posted on October 19, 2016 by russellmckinney

But the Lord said him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” (Acts 9:15-16, N.K.J.V.)

The current Americanized version of Christianity doesn’t look much like the New Testament version of it. 2,000 years difference in time will do that. Existing in two completely different cultures and in two completely different parts of the world will as well. The current Americanized version is basically an odd, hybridized mishmash of the New Testament version mixed together with the “American dream.”

In the current Americanized version, Jesus still dies on the cross and rises from the dead, but He is mostly a Savior who helps you get along in life and takes you to heaven when you die. In other words, we’re not really interested in that whole “lordship” thing wherein you have to endure persecution and perhaps even martyrdom to prove your loyalty to Him. That was for Bible times.

In the current Americanized version, if you give God $1 out of every $10 you make, you’ve covered yourself until the next payment is due. Conveniently, the church won’t even send you a past-due bill or a repossession notice if you miss every payment. You see, getting to keep 90% of our money (or all of it) works better for us than those scores of New Testament passages that encourage generous/abundant giving and strongly warn against the dangers of wealth (Matthew 6:19-21,24; Mark 10:23-25; Luke 12:13-21; Luke 16:19-31; Luke 18:22-23; Acts 4:32-37; 2 Corinthians 9:6; 1 Timothy 6:6-11; 1 Timothy 6:17-19; James 5:1-6).

In the current Americanized version, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13) becomes the magic quote for success in athletics, the business world, the classroom, and anywhere else we might want success. The quote certainly has nothing to do with enduring imprisonment for the cause of Christ (Philippians 1:12-14), being abased and hungry (Philippians 4:11-12), or being in distress (Philippians 4:14). After all, we Americans are winners.

And in the current Americanized version of Christianity, we certainly don’t want to hear the word “SUFFER.” Can you imagine a “health-and-wealth” televangelist explaining to his viewers how grateful he is that God has allowed him and his staff to be afflicted and endure the sufferings of Christ to the brink of death so that they can now better minister to fellow sufferers? That doesn’t jive too well with wearing an expensive suit, living in a mansion, driving a Bentley, and flying around in a private jet, does it? And yet that’s what Paul said concerning himself and his traveling companions (2 Corinthians 1:3-11).

Can you imagine a pastor telling his Sunday morning congregation that God has granted them the privilege of getting to suffer for the sake of Christ? The average church member might think, “Gee thanks, God. I always wanted the privilege of getting to suffer.” And yet that’s the message that Paul relayed to the Christians of Philippi (Philippians 1:29-30).

And can you imagine a preacher advising an employee who works for a mean-spirited employer to quietly endure that employer’s harsh mistreatment and see it as a way of following Christ’s example of suffering? That employee would say, “Uh, yeah, I’ll get right on that. By the way, are there any other churches in town?” And yet that’s the advice that Peter gave to the Christian slaves in the Roman empire (1 Peter 2:18-25).

As I read our text verse, I can’t help but feel for poor ole’ Ananias. He lived in Damascus, had a good reputation, was a devout disciple of Christ, and was a leader in the church in Damascus (Acts 9:10, 22:12). As such a leader, he was one of the targets for the notorious Saul of Tarsus, the land’s most feared persecutor of Christians (Acts 8:1-3, 9:1-2, 22:4-5). Ananias had heard that Saul had received written permission from the Jewish High Priest in Jerusalem to enter into the synagogues of Damascus, arrest all Christians, and transport those Christians to Jerusalem as prisoners. Surely the thoughts going through Ananias’ mind as Saul and his entourage approached Damascus were not comforting ones.

But then the Lord spoke to Ananias in a vision and told him to go to the house of a man named Judas who lived on a street called Straight. There Ananias would find Saul praying and waiting for him to lay his hands on him so that Saul’s sight could be restored (Acts 9:10-11). God had already shown it all to Saul in a vision (Acts 9:12).

Predictably, Ananias’ reaction to the Lord’s instructions was not enthusiastic. He said, “Lord, I’ve heard many reports about this Saul. I’ve heard how much harm he has done to Your followers in Jerusalem. And now he’s come here to Damascus with authority to arrest all Your followers here” (Acts 9:13-14). Ananias might as well have added in, “Lord, are you nuts? If I visit that man, he might arrest me or kill me. Oh, and if he’s been struck blind, isn’t that a good thing? At least a blind man can’t go around arresting and killing your people.” But that’s when our text verse comes into play:

But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear my name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name’s sake.” (N.K.J.V.)

Please don’t miss that last part of the Lord’s quote: “For I will show him how many things he must SUFFER for my name’s sake.” Mark it down, Saul of Tarsus’ transformation into the apostle Paul would begin a ministry that would be characterized by incredible SUFFERING. There was simply no way around it.

So, what happened next? To his credit, Ananias did pay Saul that visit, and as soon as Ananias laid his hands on Saul, Saul’s blindness was cured. Shortly afterward Ananias baptized him. Saul then spent several days with the disciples in Damascus before he began preaching Jesus in the synagogues of Damascus. Saul’s conversion and newfound ministry created such a stir among the unbelieving Jews that they began plotting to kill him. That plotting was serious enough to cause the Christians of Damascus to smuggle Saul out of town in order to keep him safe. Thus began the transformation of Saul of Tarsus, persecutor of Christians, to the apostle Paul, sufferer for Christ’s sake.

Now, getting back to our Americanized version of Christianity, what kind of life does the typical American parent want for his or her children? That parent wants that child to make straight A’s, excel at sports, take music lessons, be Class President, be Valedictorian, go to college, graduate with honors, get a high-paying job, get married, buy an upscale home, join the most popular church in town, become a leading figure in the community, have a couple of kids, and then begin the process of recreating all that in the lives of those kids, right? I mean, that is the American version of successful parenting, isn’t it? But how many parents in America want their children to do any SUFFERING for the cause of Christ”? That list would have to be a short one even though the New Testament clearly teaches that suffering builds character.

Truth be told, whereas suffering was an expected and normal part of a New Testament Christian’s life, our Americanized version of Christianity simply isn’t interested in such a concept. Seriously, I couldn’t even use the word “Suffer” in the title to this post because I knew it would instantly turn some people off and cause them to hunt something else to read. Maybe I’m being a bit too harsh on us, but it seems to me that we Christians here in America oftentimes come off as superficial, worldly people who would rather live the American dream in prosperity and popularity than join in the sufferings of our Savior by way of persecution, fighting Satan, or taking an unpopular stand.

That’s our choice I guess, but we shouldn’t be surprised then when we no longer have the spiritual power to set the moral tone for this nation. We forfeited that power sometime back when we became, to use an Old Testament phrase concerning Israel, “at ease in Zion” (Amos 6:1). And as long as that ease is our top priority nothing is going to change. Our situation reminds me of that famous visit that Thomas Aquinas paid to St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. As the Pope and Aquinas watched the priests counting their money in the treasury, the Pope said in reference to Acts 3:1-6, “You see Thomas, gone are the days when the church can say, silver and gold we have none.” But to that Aquinas replied in reference to Acts 3:6-10, “Yes, and neither can it say now, ‘Rise up and walk.'”

Posted in Adversity, Children, Commitment, Courage, Disappointment, Discipleship, Faithfulness, Giving, God's Work, Loneliness, Ministry, Money, Parenting, Pastors, Persecution, Perseverance, Preaching, Priorities, Problems, Prosperity, Service, Sports, Stewardship, Suffering, Tithing, Trials | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Bruised Reed & A Smoldering Wick

Posted on October 17, 2016 by russellmckinney

“A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out…”(Isaiah 42:3; Matthew 12:20; N.I.V.)

The words of our text are first found in the Old Testament book of Isaiah and then later referenced in the New Testament book of Matthew. In each instance, the “he” being spoken of is Jesus. The Isaiah verse is part of a passage that describes the Messiah who was prophesied to come to Israel. The Matthew verse is part of a passage that provides evidence that Jesus was the Messiah.

The text is built around two illustrations, the first of which is a “bruised reed.” Since the stalk of a reed is basically just a hollow shaft, a reed cannot stand strong and erect if its shaft is damaged. Consequently, the picture of a “bruised reed” is one in which damage has caused the shaft to become bent or bowed to some degree.

Imagine a patch of reeds growing undisturbed by a river bank. The reeds are healthy, vibrant, and standing tall. Now imagine a fisherman hiking into that scene and tromping through those reeds to make his way to the water. A path of trampled stalks is left to show his swath of destruction.

Are those trampled stalks totally annihilated? No, but they are now damaged. Did those reeds do anything to deserve that damage? No, they were just standing there by the water’s edge, doing what they were designed to do, when trouble found them.

In terms of people, a “bruised reed” depicts an individual who has been damaged through no fault of his own. Outside influences (either unfortunate events or deeds done by other individuals) have tromped into the person’s life and inflicted considerable injury. This injury can be emotional, psychological, mental, spiritual, physical, or some combination of any of these. In each case, though, the person ends up lowly, somewhat pitiable, and hindered from operating at a high level.

According to our text, Jesus handles such people with delicate care. Instead of breaking off the bruised stalk and thereby finalizing the damage, He works to repair and restore the stalk to help it stand tall again. This shows Christ’s tender compassion toward those who have been wronged, treated unjustly, or have simply gotten caught up in a bad turn of events they didn’t cause.

Turning now to the second illustration, that of the “smoldering wick,” in Bible times people commonly doused a piece of cloth in olive oil or animal fat to use as a wick for a lamp. That wick would keep the lamp lit as long as the oil or fat remained, but when the fuel source ran out the wick would begin to smolder and smoke rather than produce a true flame. Like the illustration of the “bruised reed,” the illustration of the “smoldering wick” depicts an object that is in a weakened state and isn’t functioning properly.

And what type of person does the “smoldering wick” represent? It represents one whose energy and resources have become depleted through the performance of duty. Such a person is spent, exhausted, and incapable of self-replenishment. He has given his all in doing what he was supposed to do, so much so that he can no longer do it effectively. Where there was once a flame there is now only smoke. The situation is akin to the modern term “burned out.”

Does Jesus throw such a person away and find someone new to do the work? Definitely not. Instead of snuffing out what is left of the person’s flame, Jesus provides him with a fresh supply of fuel and gets that flame burning brightly again. This shows Christ’s tender compassion toward those who have run themselves into the ground trying to do good and consequently have nothing left to give. Jesus appreciates such peoples’ effort and won’t leave them in their exhausted, drained condition.

I don’t know where these two graphic illustrations from Jesus find you right now, but my guess is that somebody out there is currently feeling like a bruised reed, a smoldering wick, or both. If that’s you please take encouragement from the fact that Jesus has no desire to finish you off completely. To the contrary, He wants to strengthen you, shore you up, revitalize you, and refuel you.

No matter what the circumstances were that brought you to your present condition, the main thing now is your future. Today can be the first day of that future if you will allow Jesus to begin the process of restoring you back to a healthy state. Therefore, I advise you to spend time with Him in prayer, telling Him all about your current situation and how you got there. Then let Him begin His marvelous work of restoring you and reviving you. Figuratively speaking, He really does want you standing straight and burning with a bright flame, and He can get you there if you will give Him your damaged or depleted self completely.

Posted in Adversity, Comfort, Encouragement, God's Love, Needs, Problems | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments