The Importance of a Child’s Obedience

Posted on January 25, 2010 by russellmckinney

“Parenting” series: (post #1)

With this post, I begin a four-part series on the subject of parenting. This first entry deals with the importance of obedience in a child. To get us started, I want to cite three passages, each of which addresses the issue of children obeying their parents.

Passage #1 is Deuteronomy 21:18-21:

If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city. And they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones; so you shall put away the evil from among you; and all Israel shall hear and fear. (N.K.J.V.)

Please understand that this text is not a word that directly applies to us. It was, instead, a part of God’s Old Testament law for the nation of Israel. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean that these verses are any less the words of God. Neither does it mean that we can’t study them and be helped by them. As 2 Timothy 3:16 says:

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. (N.K.J.V.)

You can rest assured that I’m not advocating the stoning of any rebellious children. I am, however, trying to show you the incredible importance that God places upon obedience in a child. Obedience is important enough for Him to have once instituted a law that called for the public death-by-stoning of every disobedient Israelite child.

Furthermore, not only did God command the Israelites to stone disobedient children, He commanded the parents of those children to willingly turn them over for the execution. In essence, He said to each of those parents, “It will be better for your nation if your disobedient child is dead. So shall you put away the evil from among you.”

He also said, “And all Israel shall hear, and fear.” That meant that such public stonings would seriously curtail the disobedience of any other potential rebels. For one thing, the stonings would cause parents to fear, because parents wouldn’t want their children to meet such a fate. For another thing, the stonings would cause children to fear, because children wouldn’t want to lose their lives over a lack of obedience.

Now let’s move on to passage #2, which is Ephesians 6:1. This is a New Testament passage, which means that these words do directly apply to us. It says:

Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. (N.K.J.V.)

And then passage #3 is Colossians 3:20, another New Testament passage, which says:

Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord. (N.K.J.V.)

By stringing these three passages together, we see that God’s holy scriptures provide a clear, consistent word about children obeying their parents. This word is seen in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, and it isn’t hard to grasp: Children should obey their parents. There’s nothing hard to figure out about that.

As for my own upbringing, my parents loved me and provided for me, but they did not break me of my stubborn, disobedient will. I was like a wild stallion that had never been ridden. I had a lot of potential, but like the potential of any unbroken horse, my potential remained unharnessed. I used to think that my staying unbroken was a good thing, but I’ve lived long enough now to find out some of what it cost me.

Why I am telling you this? I’m trying to get the attention of those of you who are either parents now or would one day like to become parents. I want you to understand that children come wired with a self-will. It is stronger in some children than in others, but every child has some of it. And if a child’s self-will remains unbroken, it can really mess up that child’s life. That’s why the self-will must be broken when the child is young. A parent who waits until a child’s teenage years to try to do the job will be about 13 years and 150 pounds too late.

I’ll be grateful to God forever for the fact that He came to me when I was at the lowest point of my life and said, “Russell, for things to get better you must submit to me.” As I mentioned just a moment ago, up until that time I had never really submitted to anyone. At that low point, however, I did submit to God. It’s been many years since that submission, and over those years I’ve learned that such submission is the only way a person can reach his or her full potential. Believe me when I say that because of my submission to God, He has gotten stuff out of me that no one would ever have seen if I had remained unbroken.

Of course, when I talk about breaking a child I’m not talking about breaking the child’s spirit. Parent, the goal isn’t to create some brain-dead robot who lives in terror of you and has no opinion or personality. That kind of a child will grow up to be a complete pushover who never questions anything and submits to everybody. In other words, he or she will be a perfect candidate for a cult. A child needs to have a mind of its own and remain the unique individual he or she was born to be. So, don’t break your child’s spirit. Do, however, break the child’s disobedient self-will.

Let me go back to the illustration of the unbroken stallion. When a cowboy attempts to ride an unbroken stallion, the last thing in the world he wants to do is cripple the horse. He wants the horse to keep its strength, vitality, personality, and nature. Those things make for a great horse. But the cowboy understands that the horse’s stubborn, rebellious, disobedient self-will must be broken. All of that strength, vitality, personality, and nature can’t do anybody any good if the horse remains wild and untamed.

And here’s the most important aspect of you breaking your child: If you can bring your child under submission to you, it will be much easier for that child to eventually submit to Christ. Putting it another way, becoming submitted to you will prepare your child for becoming submitting to Christ. Unfortunately, the flip side is, if you can’t get your child to submit to you, that child will grow up with no understanding of submission, and that problem will hinder his or her possible submission to Christ.

Now, having said all that I’ve said, I want to finish up this post by speaking directly to each of you who are right now the parents of a small child. I’m going to ask you three simple questions. If these questions hit pretty close to home, just keep in mind that Tonya and I have raised two boys. That’s how I know the right questions to ask. With that in mind, here we go.

Question #1: When you tell your child to stop doing something, does the child really stop doing it?

If your child keeps right on going, even after you’ve said, “Stop that,” and even after you’ve repeated yourself, you’ve got a problem right now. If your demands always end up in begging, pleading, and bargaining, you are already way behind in the battle of wills. Let me be blunt: If you can’t make a child obey you, you are doomed when that child becomes a teenager.

Question #2: When you tell your child to come here, does the child come?

If you say, “Yes, after I go and drag him by the arm,” you’ve got a problem right now. You’d better look ahead to the time when that child will be too big for you to manhandle. Then what will you do? You might not like to think about it now, but a child who refuses to get out of a Little Tikes car and come in the house when told can easily become a teenager sitting in a real car someplace, ignoring your curfew.

Question #3: When your child wants to do something but you say, “No,” does that child immediately start in with the incessant complaining, whining, and crying?

You say, “Yes, but don’t worry, I never cave in.” Well, I’m glad that you don’t, but the problem is that you aren’t really breaking the child’s self-will. You see, if you allow all that complaining, whining, and crying, your child will get the idea that the issue of size is the only thing stopping him from doing what he wants to do.

Now, if you were honest in how you answered those three questions, you’ve got a pretty good idea right now how broken and submitted your child is. I wonder if we would dare put ourselves in the role of Israelites in ancient Israel. How comfortable would we feel in our home life if it was actually against the law for us to harbor a rebellious, disobedient child? Could your house pass that test? Could mine?

You say, “Oh, but we aren’t Israelites and we don’t live under that law.” That’s true. But does that mean that God doesn’t want us to raise children who know submission and obedience? Of course not!

So tell me, are you man enough or woman enough to do this job? Are you tougher than a four-foot rebel with a cowlick? Can you teach submission and obedience to a three-year-old hothead? Who is calling the shots at your house? Is the dog wagging the tail or is the tail wagging the dog? Parents, these are vital questions, and I hope that we are all up to the task of living out the right answers.

Posted in Children, Disobedience, Obedience, Parenting, Series: "Parenting", Submission | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Always Do Your Best

Posted on January 21, 2010 by russellmckinney

One day, many years ago when New York department stores were high-end stores, a group of lowly paid clerks were standing around talking about baseball. It was raining that day, which meant that business was slow. Then a woman, wet and a bit disheveled, came into the store. As she entered the premises, only one of the clerks was willing to leave the baseball discussion to attend to her.

The young man walked over to the woman and courteously asked her, “What can I show you, madam?” She told him the item she needed, and he quickly located it for her. Then he took the time to expertly explain the item’s merits. The woman made the purchase and left the store, asking for the young man’s card as she left.

Sometime later the woman sent a letter to the head of that store. Actually, the letter was an order for the complete furnishings of an estate in Scotland. In the letter, the woman specifically asked that the young employee who had attended to her that rainy day supervise the furnishing personally.

The store head wrote her in reply, saying, “Madam, this man is one of our youngest and most inexperienced clerks. Hadn’t we better give this assignment to someone else?” But the reply came back, “I want this young man and no other.”

In compliance with the woman’s wishes, the store sent the young clerk across the Atlantic to personally oversee the furnishing of the grand palace in Scotland. The palace was called Skibo Castle, and it had recently been purchased by Andrew Carnegie, one of the world’s richest men. And who was the woman who insisted that the young clerk be granted the prestigious assignment of furnishing the castle? She was none other than Louise Carnegie, Andrew’s wife.

You say, “Oh, c’mon, Russell. Am I supposed to take your word that such a story actually happened?” No, but you don’t have to take my word for it. The person who originally told the story was Charles Schwab, the steel magnet who got his start working for Andrew Carnegie. Schwab began the story by saying, “I know a young fellow in New York who has built himself a big business. He used to be a poorly paid clerk in a department store.”

So, the lesson of this true-life story is: Always do your best because you never know who might be watching. As the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 9:10: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might…” (N.K.J.V.) And if you need a distinctly Christian spin put on the lesson, consider the words of Colossians 3:17 and 3:23, where the apostle Paul says to Christians: “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him…And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men” (N.K.J.V.)

Posted in Attitude, Business, Character, Commitment, Doing Good, God's Omnipresence, Personal Holiness, Reward, Service, Stewardship, Work | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How Watching The Lifetime Movie Network Can Lead To A Bible Study

Posted on January 19, 2010 by russellmckinney

Last night Tonya and I watched one of those dreaded Lifetime Movie Network movies. I use the word “dreaded” because the Lifetime Movie Network isn’t typically associated with wholesome. As best I can tell, the channel is run by women who pretty much think that every man is an adulterer, bully, spouse abuser, or serial killer. In the movie we watched, the guy was a serial killer.

Actually, the movie was based on the true-life story of Gary Ridgway, the infamous Green River killer. On November 5, 2003, Ridgway entered a guilty plea to 48 charges of aggravated first degree murder. That was a plea bargain deal that allowed him to avoid the death penalty. He was sentenced to 48 life sentences to be served consecutively with no possibility of parole. He also received an additional 10 years for tampering with the evidence in each of the killings. That added another 480 years to his 48 life sentences. As part of the deal, he agreed to help the police locate the bodies of many other missing girls. That is what spared his life.

No one, perhaps not even Ridgway himself, knows how many young women he actually killed. He was convicted of the 48 murders, but he confessed to as high as 71 in police interviews following his plea bargain. It is generally presumed, though, that the number was much higher, perhaps over 90.

If we had it to do over again, I don’t think Tonya and I would watch the movie. As the closing credits were rolling, I said to her, “I feel like I need a shower and a brillo pad.” You know, it was just one of those seemingly harmless situations. Tonya had recorded the movie on DVR a few weeks ago because she thought it sounded interesting. She asked me if I wanted to watch it with her. Then once you get started with it, you kind of want to see how it ends. I had heard the name Gary Ridgway before and I knew he was a serial killer, but I didn’t know he was the subject of that movie. I thought it was just one of those fictional Lifetime pieces that majors on melodrama and bad acting.

Anyway, what I took from the movie was that Gary Ridgway should have been executed. No plea bargain deal should have been offered. In the end, he only lead police to three more bodies. While I realize that finding those bodies was of incalculable value to the families, if you are going to have capital punishment at all you must carry it out on the likes of Ridgway. He is sitting in the Washington State Prison in Walla, Walla Washington right now, while the decomposing remains of so many of his victims still lie in unmarked graves around the cities of Seattle and Tacoma.      

A lot of people don’t like the whole notion of the death penalty, but it is definitely a Bible teaching. Just as God sanctions human government, He sanctions capital punishment being administered through human governments. We see this in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

It all begins in Genesis 9:1-6. Not long after Noah and his family climbed off the ark, God said to them, “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed. For in the image of God He made man.”  

Centuries later, when it came time for God to give His law to Moses and the Israelites, He built the death penalty into that law by way of passages such as Exodus 21:12-17. Under that law, offenses such as murder, rape, incest, sodomy, witchcraft, adultery, blasphemy, and even disobedience to parents were considered capital punishment crimes. I’m not suggesting that all of these offenses should still carry the death penalty. I’m simply pointing out some of the specifics of that Old Testament law that God gave to Israel. 

It should be understood that the law required at least two witnesses for those crimes and the punishment was to be carried out through what could be called Israel’s government. The point is, no Israelite was to take the law into his own hands. The death penalty was only administered through proper avenues. This understanding of how capital punishment should work still applies today.

Obviously, it helps if one’s legal system is fair, honest, and godly. If a legal system isn’t those things, then the administering of the death penalty can sometimes become questionable. That’s where we are today in America. But there is nothing wrong with the basic concept of the death penalty. It is a Bible concept, and Gary Ridgway was certainly a candidate for it.

I say that because of two passages from the New Testament. The first one is Romans 13:1-7, which says:

“Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.”

In these verses, rulers and governing authorities are described as being the instruments through which evil people are put to death. That’s what verse 4 means when it says the governing authority doesn’t bear the sword in vain. It’s also why verse 7 speaks of rendering fear to the authority. Verse 3 calls rulers a terror to evil works. Verse 4 says if you do evil, be afraid. It also calls the ruler or governing authority “God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.” All of this plainly speaks of God-sanctioned, government-administered capital punishment.

The second passage is 1 Peter 2:13-14. These verses say: 

“Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.”

Again, the teaching is that the rulers or governing authorities have the God-sanctioned role of the “punishment of evildoers.” That punishment can be the death penalty, if the situation warrants it. And if it didn’t warrant it in the case of Gary Ridgway, it can’t be warranted in any case. That’s what I took from that movie.　

Posted in Bible Study, Capital Punishment, Government, The Death Penalty | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Contemporary Vs. Traditional

Posted on January 15, 2010 by russellmckinney

(This article ran in the January, 2010 regional edition of The Blue Ridge Christian News.)

At Disciples Road Church, we feature a balanced blend of music. Unlike churches that offer separate traditional and contemporary services, we just throw everybody together and ask them to sing classic hymns and contemporary worship songs. Since having preferences is a part of being human, our members have theirs. With a few exceptions, the lines fall exactly as you would think: the kids like the contemporary songs best, but the adults like the classics.

The truth is, I can’t blame the kids for favoring the contemporary songs. Have you ever really paid attention to some of the words of the old hymns? The second verse of Holy, Holy, Holy has the line: “Cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee.” That’s a glorious thought, but how many youth know that cherubim and seraphim are two categories of angels? (And, yes, I’ve taught on that subject at the church.) The first verse of All Hail The Power of Jesus’ Name reads: “Let angels prostrate fall; Bring forth the royal diadem.” When does a ten-year old hear the word “prostrate” or “diadem” other than in that song? The second verse of Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing begins with: “Here I raise mine Ebenezer; Hither by thy help I come.” That line is a reference to 1 Samuel 7:12, but a teenager sings it and thinks, “What’s an Ebenezer?” I’ve got to admit that even my initial reaction to the word has more to do with the Ebenezer Scrooge of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol than the great prophet Samuel. And I won’t even get into their reactions to “hither” and “thy.”

You say, “Russell, you’re just singing the wrong hymns. You need to quit trying to be ‘high church.’ Just stick to old standbys like At Calvary, What A Friend We Have In Jesus, and Leaning On The Everlasting Arms.” Well, I must report that we even run into some problems with these seemingly simple songs. At Calvary contains words such as “spurned,” “imploring,” and “raptured.” What A Friend We Have In Jesus gives us “laden,” “cumbered,” and “solace.” Leaning On The Everlasting Arms talks about walking in this “pilgrim way” and being safe and secure from all “alarms.” Any child who knows about getting up early for school knows what an alarm is and is left to wonder how God keeps us secure from them.

Do you understand the point I’m making? Oftentimes it takes an elderly theologian to grasp doctrinal truths that are presented in language from the 1700s, 1800s, and 1900s. There’s a reason why Bible-school songs sound so much different from our classic hymns. Yes, the quicker beat helps keep the attention of hyperactive kids, but the unsophisticated words are a major draw too. Children are like adults in that they want to be able to understand what they are singing.

My son Ryan is twelve years old. He is a straight-A student who has been raised in church. He knows Jesus as his Savior and wasn’t baptized by me until I was thoroughly convinced that his salvation was genuine. It has only been over the last three years that he has been introduced to contemporary Christian music. Before that, he only sung such songs during Bible school. Everything else was classic hymnology. What I’m saying is, if any kid should be able to handle the old songs, it’s Ryan.

Nevertheless, a few weeks ago, after our church had sung Victory In Jesus, Ryan asked me something that really opened my eyes. His question was, “Daddy, what’s a ‘wretch’?” You see, if that song had said, “I heard an old, old story, how a Savior came from glory, how he gave his life on Calvary to save a sinner like me,” Ryan would have understood completely. But that word “wretch” confused him, even though he’d also sung it before in the opening words of Amazing Grace. You see, he is a “wretch” who has been saved by God’s amazing grace via Christ’s death on Calvary, but he needs a song that expresses that great truth in words that he can grasp.

A couple of weeks later I had a similar experience with Royce, my nine-year old. For several months now Tonya has been working to get him to remain in the worship service for its entirety, which includes his daddy’s sermon. She’s taken longer to make that transition with him than she did with Ryan because he has matured at a different rate than Ryan. I’ve tried to help by encouraging Royce to really sing out when we sing our songs. I always try to get the kids to participate in the service. It helps them and it helps the service. Since Royce likes singing, he has become one of the loudest voices in our church. (We’ll work at staying on key and in tempo later.)

Well, I don’t remember exactly what we were singing that morning, but I could hear Royce’s loud voice coming in and out of the song. It was obvious what was happening: He was singing loud until he came to a word he didn’t know. If I hadn’t figured that out during the song, Royce certainly let me hear about it at the song’s conclusion. He said, for all the congregation to hear, “Those words are too hard!” Everybody laughed, but I knew the little fellow was simply voicing a frustration that has been felt by thousands of young people at some point during their church lives.

Under this same category, we also find the debate concerning the use of modern translations of the Bible. Just as words such as “wretch,” “prostrate,” “diadem,” “cumbered,” and “solace” are completely foreign to today’s youth, so are K.J.V. words such as:

“chambering” (Romans 13:13); “sackbut” (Daniel 3:5); “clouted” (Joshua 9:5); “glede“ (Deuteronomy 14:13); “ouches” (Exodus 28:11); “brigandines” (Jeremiah 46:4); “chode“ (Numbers 20:3); “nitre” (Proverbs 25:20); “purtenance” (Exodus 12:9); “choler“ (Daniel 8:7); “scall” (Leviticus 13:30); “amerce” (Deuteronomy 22:19); “tabret” (Genesis 31:27); “neesings” (Job 41:18); “suretiship“ (Proverbs 11:15); “collops” (Job 15:27); “trow” (Luke 17:9); “cieled” (Haggai 1:4); “blains” (Exodus 9:9); “wen” (Leviticus 22:22); “cotes” (2 Chronicles 32:28); “crookbackt” (Leviticus 21:20); “wantonness” (Romans 13:13); “ambassage” (Luke 14:32); “wimples” (Isaiah 3:22); and “habergeon” (Exodus 28:32).

I’ve been preaching for seventeen years, but even I have to work hard to figure out what these words mean. I can only imagine what young people think of the Bible when they run into such words while reading it. Since translation teams devote their lives to putting the Bible into the common languages of indigenous groups around the world, shouldn’t we do the same for our young folks here at home?

Frankly, I don’t claim to have all the answers in the traditional vs. contemporary debate. But what I do know is that if we want our kids to understand the word of God and the great doctrinal truths it conveys, we have to give them translations and spiritual songs that speak the way they do. The critic would call this more of the “dumbing down” of our society, but I just can’t justify holding 21st century kids (or adults for that matter) to the language standards of the 17th, 18th, or 19th centuries.

If I know anything about God, I know that He is alive and vibrant, always pushing ahead and moving on to the next thing. Jesus refused to be trapped by so many of the “traditions” of His day, and He hasn’t changed. Our Lord is in the business of reaching all people with His message, and as such He doesn’t want to be held hostage to archaic language that doesn’t speak in a clear, easily understood way to the people of the day. That is especially true when it comes to highly impressionable young people. I’m not saying that we should abandon the time-honored hymns or the K.J.V. translation. As long as large numbers of people still prefer these, there’s no reason to exclusively embrace the contemporary. But, on the other hand, let’s not drive into the other ditch by automatically labeling anything “new” as “bad.” Our young folks need us to be more discerning than that.

Posted in Balance, Bible Study, Children, King James Only, Music, Scripture, Worship | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Diet Time Again

Posted on January 13, 2010 by russellmckinney

Well, this past Monday I hit the ground running on my new diet. My digital scales clocked me in at 201. That’s 20 to 25 pounds north of where I need to be. Since it’s been a few years since I really got into diet mode, I think I’m due for a reconfiguring.

Truth be told, in addition to my weight issues, my stomach has been bothering me quite a bit for the past several months. Too much fried food will do that. I was up to two tagaments a day because the heartburn had become such an issue.

I don’t worry that I won’t be able to lose weight. That’s not to brag, just to state the truth. I know I can drop pounds when I put my mind to it. I wasn’t always so confident, but several years ago I went from 225 to 175 in just a few months. That’s when I learned how to effectively shed weight.

My teacher was a Bariatric Clinic that Tonya and I attended for a while. They gave us a simple plan and guaranteed that we would lose weight if we followed it. For a male, it goes like this:

1. I’m allowed food and drinks totaling up to 30 fat grams and 2,000 calories per day.

2. I have to drink two quarts of water each day.

3. I have to put in 30 minutes of exercise each day.

Certainly there are all kinds of other diets out there (Atkins, Nutrisystem, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, etc.), and I’m sure these other plans will work, too. For me, though, I know what’s done the trick in the past. I’ll dance with the one that brought me.

Back then, it took me a few weeks to get the hang of reading the sides of every box and learning to count fat grams and calories. Eventually, though, I became an expert at it. As for the 30 minutes of exercise, my weapon of choice is a treadmill. Yes, it’s old school, but it works. It’s been sitting there in my bedroom just waiting for the day when we’d get reacquainted. I can drink one of my two required quarts of water while walking on it and watching t.v.

The exercising is fine once you get in the habit of it, and it really does give you more energy. Drinking all that water is a bit of a chore, but it’s not too terrible. The hardest thing is the difference in the tastes of foods. With a few notable exceptions, fattening food does taste better. Don’t believe the hype about not being able to tell the difference between regular food and low-fat food. As the old saying goes, though, no pain no gain (or in this case, no loss).

If I needed any reassurance that my tried-and-true system still works, my digital bathroom scales have been giving it to me. By Tuesday morning, I had gone from 201 to 199, and this morning I was at 198. So, the slow process has begun. Oh, I’m well aware that losing the first handful of pounds is the easiest. (Just drinking the water will accomplish that.) Still, if I’ll stay on course, the scales will continue to be friendly. Like so many things, the plan will work if I will work the plan.

Of course, I’m not one of these fitness fanatics who is going to lose my mind over my appearance or start bowing down before weight loss as an idol. Admittedly, I experienced a touch of that when I lost all that weight years ago. And, yes, I’ve read 1 Timothy 4:8, which says: “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things…” (N.K.J.V., emphasis mine). Every overweight preacher knows that verse. Nevertheless, if I can get in on that “little” profit without sacrificing any godliness, I’ll take all the profit I can get.

I think the better scripture concerning weight loss is 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, which says that God the Holy Spirit’s indwelling of the Christian’s body makes that body a temple. As such, the Christian is told to “glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (N.K.J.V.). Admittedly, those verses are found in the context of a warning about sexual immorality, not weight loss. Still, though, the basic idea can be applied in any number of ways, including that of excess weight.

I do know that too many Christians are far too flippant about this topic. Preachers, in particular, are notorious for making jokes about it. For example, one old joke says that a preacher’s belt is nothing more than a fence around a chicken graveyard. While that’s funny, it loses some of its humor when a guy has been preaching for fifteen minutes and is red in the face, out of breath, and in need of a chair. Getting drunk or having an affair isn’t the only way to defile a temple.

As the weeks move along, I’ll keep you posted here and there on how my diet is going. I’m also trying to make some other changes for this new year. For example, I want to go to bed earlier and get up earlier, something that is hard for a born night-owl. I want to watch less television. I want to listen to more preaching and contemporary Christian music. And I’ve already started writing a second book. This one deals with prayer. Hopefully, and prayerfully, I’ll make great strides in all of these areas as 2010 unfolds. Through it all, though, one thing’s for sure: I’ve got plenty of room in my life for improvement.

Posted in Choices, Christian Liberty, Dieting, New Year, Personal, The Holy Spirit | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Christianity in Shoe Leather

Posted on January 11, 2010 by russellmckinney

In my previous post, “For His Name’s Sake,” I talked about how a Christian’s conduct has a direct effect upon Christ’s reputation with the lost people of this world. Summing up the situation, a Christian’s sinful conduct does harm to Christ’s name. Now let me give you an example to illustrate this truth. Like the exaggerated examples Jesus loved to use, this hypothetical story will be on the extreme side.

Let’s say that a husband and wife, neither of whom is a Christian, go to buy a used car. They drive to a local dealership and find a car that looks good to them. As if he is reading their minds, a salesman suddenly appears from the office and makes his way out to them. He says, “You folks have a good eye. Just between you and me, this car is the best buy on the lot. It is mechanically as sound as a dollar. I wouldn’t mind taking off cross country in it. And if you’ll finalize the deal today, I’ll knock an extra $500 off the asking price.”

Even as those words roll from the salesman’s lips, however, he knows he is lying. His mechanics have told him the car’s engine needs to be completely rebuilt. Ignorant of this inside information, the husband and wife take the car out for a test spin, and the car does alright on that short test drive. Arriving back at the lot, the couple talk between themselves briefly, after which the husband tells the salesman, “We’ll take it. The salesman says, “Great. Step into my office and we’ll sign the papers.”

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

The husband says, “Well, my wife and I aren’t very religious, but I guess we can trust a deacon.” The salesman says, “Absolutely! You can trust me. Even though this car is just a little bit too old to have any kind of warranty, I’ll take care of you. If you have any trouble with it, just bring it back to me. I’ll make things right. You have my personal guarantee on that.”

So, the papers are signed and the deal is done. The husband and wife just bought themselves a car. The husband climbs into it, starts it up, and pulls off the lot while his wife falls in behind him in the car they drove to the lot. But the husband only gets about five miles up the road before smoke starts pouring out from under the hood of his car. Luckily for him, there is a service station right there on the corner. He pulls into the station, and a mechanic pops the hood and takes a look at the car’s engine. The mechanic says, “Sir, I hate to tell you this, but this motor is completely shot. It needs a total rebuild.”

Upon hearing that, the man immediately gets into the car with his wife, who has followed him to the service station, and tells her, “Take me back to that car lot. I’m going to have a word with that salesman.” The wife obliges, and the husband storms into the salesman’s office. He points his finger at the salesman and says, “You sold me a lemon. I drove that car about five miles and the motor blew up. I want you to keep your word and make things right.”

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

You say, “Boy, that husband and wife won’t think much of that Christian salesman.” You’re right, they won’t. I’ll tell you something else: They won’t think much of Christ either! They’ll say, “If that’s what being a Christian is all about, the Christians can have it. We can do better than that on our own. Who needs a Savior who produces that kind of behavior in His people?”

The takeaway lesson from this story, Christian, is that you are called to live your faith wherever you happen to be at the time. This means that if you go around claiming to be a Christian, you’d better act right. If you have a tag that says “Christ Is My Co-Pilot,” you’d better be honest. If you have a bumper sticker that says “Honk, If You Love Jesus,” you’d better pay your bills. If you wear a shirt that says “My Best Friend Is A Jewish Carpenter,” you’d better watch your language. Why? It’s because Christ’s reputation is at stake by way of your behavior!

You can call this “Christianity in shoe leather.” It is you bringing your Christianity out of the clouds of doctrine. It is you pulling your religion up from your church seat. It is you transitioning your spirituality from principle to practice.

How do you do this? Every day that you wake up you spend time in prayer, saying, “Jesus, today, wherever I go, whatever the day holds for me, lead me in the paths of righteousness. You be My guiding shepherd and help me be your obedient sheep. Don’t let me do anything today that will bring shame to Your name.” Once you start praying like that and living out that prayer, you’ll find yourself walking in those paths of righteousness. And that will not only be beneficial to you and others, it will be beneficial to Jesus as His good name will not be muddied by your ungodly behavior.

Posted in Backsliding, Business, Character, Church, Discipleship, Doing Good, Faithfulness, Honesty, Influence, Lying, Obedience, Personal Holiness, Salvation | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

For His Name’s Sake

Posted on January 9, 2010 by russellmckinney

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. (Psalm 23:1-3, N.K.J.V.)

There are a slew of profound truths to be found in these three verses, but I would like to specifically draw your attention to the last part of verse 3. David says of the Lord: “He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” That makes for an interesting motivation on Christ’s part, doesn’t it?

Of course, I realize that Christ’s name isn’t actually used in these verses. Undoubtedly, though, Jesus had this passage in mind when He said in John 10:11,14,and 27:

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep…I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own…My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. (N.K.J.V.)

And so, Jesus leads Christians in the paths of righteousness for the sake of His own name. This means that He leads Christians in the paths of righteousness so that His name won’t be besmirched, soiled, or damaged. Obviously, Jesus is quiet concerned about His reputation.

Now, does walking in the paths of righteousness help the individual Christian? Yes, it does. Does a Christian walking in the paths of righteousness make the world a better place? Yes, it does. But neither of these motivations is mentioned in Psalm 23:3. The only motivation mentioned is that of Jesus protecting His own name.

In your mind’s eye, go with me back in time to a day in ancient Israel. Let’s tag along as a local shepherd leads a flock of sheep for the day. We don’t have to help the man do his shepherding. All we have to do is observe.

As we walk along behind the shepherd, we see that he seems to be doing an adequate job of leading his sheep. Now it is time, though, for the sheep to eat, and we are interested in how the shepherd will meet that need. We are also aware that once the sheep have filled their stomachs they will want to lie down and rest a while.

Much to our surprise, the shepherd leads the sheep right past a beautiful, green pasture that would provide perfect food and rest for the sheep. For some inexplicable reason, he seems to have another site in mind. Finally, he brings the flock to a rocky, almost barren piece of ground where just a few sparse patches of grass grow here and there. The sheep try to eat, but there just isn’t enough grass. This causes them to give up on the idea and lie down. They don’t get much rest, though, because the ground is far too hard and rocky.

After watching this, we begin to question the shepherd’s judgment. Still, we want to give him the benefit of the doubt and so we wait around until it is time for him to again put the sheep on the move. Now that the sheep have had their allotted time for eating and resting, it is time for them to get some water. We then accompany the flock as the shepherd leads them to an outstanding waterhole. We’ve heard that sheep don’t like rushing waters because they can’t swim very well and are terrified of swift currents, but these waters are still and quiet. This hole is just right.

We watch in amazement, though, as the shepherd shakes his head in disapproval. Evidently, he doesn’t think these waters will suffice. Onward he leads the sheep until finally the sound of a mighty, rushing river is heard. The shepherd picks up his pace, and upon arriving at the river, he brings the sheep to the water’s edge and waits for them to start drinking.

The sheep, however, are overly cautious and won’t go near the dangerous current. This keeps them from getting the water they desperately need. Once the shepherd realizes the sheep aren’t going to drink, he begins again with his leading. Now the sheep are hungry and tired because the shepherd walked them past the green pastures, and they are thirsty because he walked them past the quiet waters. It’s clear to us that the poor animals need to be refreshed, but the shepherd pushes them onward, seemingly oblivious to their plight.

We continue to follow close behind the flock even though by now we are completely bewildered at the shepherd’s actions. Over the remaining course of the day, we watch as the shepherd leads the sheep to places sheep have no business going. He leads them in precarious paths that run along the edges of cliffs. He leads them in dangerous paths that run by places where lions are known to suddenly attack. He leads them in rough paths that run through ditches and briars. Finally, we have seen enough and make our way back to town.

Once we get into town, a man comes to us and says, “You are the people who tagged along and watched the shepherd lead his flock. Tell me, what did you think of his shepherding?” Having seen what we’ve seen, what must our answer be? We must say that the shepherd doesn’t know how to care for sheep. We must say that he is dangerous for sheep. We must say that he is not to be trusted with sheep. The fact of the matter is, it is absolutely impossible for us to recommend that man as a shepherd. We explain this to the fellow who asked our opinion, and our critical words begin making their way through the town. Pretty soon, the shepherd’s reputation is ruined.

Now let’s come back to the present day. I ask you, Christian, what kind of reputation as a shepherd does Jesus desire to have among the people of this world? Answer: He wants to be known as a good shepherd. Okay, so how can He gain such a reputation? To gain it, He must lead us, His sheep, in the paths of righteousness. Therefore, Christian, every time you forego those paths of righteousness, you damage Christ’s name.

Maybe you would say, “But it isn’t right for Jesus to be blamed when He’s not the one who leads the Christian into paths of sin.” Well, you make a good point. The people of this world shouldn’t hold it against Jesus when a Christian refuses to live in a holy manner. The problem, however, is that the people of this world don’t always differentiate between Christian sheep who follow Christ’s leading and Christian sheep who don’t.

You see, Christian, your fellow Christians might understand that Christ is not the leader He can be if you aren’t the follower you ought to be, but there’s no guarantee that lost people will understand it. That’s why, when you stand up and say, “Jesus Christ is my Savior,” you’d better do all you can to ensure that you walk in Christ’s paths of righteousness. You failing at this assignment will not only damage your own name, it will damage Christ’s name. Neither of these things is something you should want, and Christ’s own reputation taking a hit simply because you played the part of a rogue sheep is surely not something He deserves.

Posted in Addiction, Backsliding, Character, Discipleship, Disobedience, Doing Good, Dress and Appearance, God's Will, Influence, Obedience, Personal Holiness, Sanctification, Separation, Sin, Temptation | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Got Any Trees That Need Cutting?

Posted on January 8, 2010 by russellmckinney

Charles Bracelan Flood’s book, Lee: The Last Years, gives us a thought-provoking story from the life of Robert E. Lee. As the story goes, Lee visited the home of a Kentucky woman shortly after the end of the Civil War. The woman took him to the remains of a grand old tree that stood in front of her home. Standing there beside the ruined tree, Lee listened as she cried bitter tears and cursed the Union army for destroying the tree’s limbs and trunk. When she finished, she expected Lee to condemn the North or at least sympathize with her loss. Lee, instead, paused for a moment and said, “Cut it down, my dear madam, and forget it.”

Finish this sentence for me: “In all honesty, I have never fully forgiven ………..” If no particular name came to your mind to finish that sentence, it’s possible that you aren’t carrying any old grudges or hatreds. On the other hand, if a name instinctively popped in there, even if you didn’t want it to pop in there, you need to address that problem in your life.

Carefully consider the following quotes from Jesus (all from the N.K.J.V.):

For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:14-15)

And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses. (Mark 11:25-26)

And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. (Luke 11:4)

Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. (Luke 6:37)

It’s hard to overstate the seriousness of these quotes. If Jesus said something once it was important, but how important a subject must be for Him to hammer on it multiple times? Suffice is to say that Jesus makes a big deal out of you refusing to forgive someone even if you don’t think it’s a big deal.

Just like that Kentucky woman who carried a hatred for the Union army because of what they had done to her tree, perhaps you are withholding forgiveness from someone who has wronged you. If that’s the case, let me encourage you to take Robert E. Lee’s advice. Cut that tree down and forget it. Stop visiting it every day. Stop thinking about it all the time. Stop shedding tears about it. Stop mourning over it. And stop trying to get others to join you in your mourning. Instead, extend forgiveness to the person, even if the forgiveness is undeserved. You’ll be amazed at what a difference this will make in your life. After all, spending hours on end staring at a ruined, bombed out tree doesn’t make for much of a life.

Posted in Extending Forgiveness, Forgiveness, Seeking Forgiveness | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Right Kind of Meditation

Posted on January 7, 2010 by russellmckinney

We’ve been mining Psalm 1:1-3 for spiritual truth this week. So, here now is one last post on the passage. I’m calling this one “The Right Kind of Meditation.”

The practice of meditation is typically associated with far-eastern religions and the mental exploration of one’s “inner self.” But the Bible has nothing to say about that kind of meditation. The Biblical kind of meditation is described in Psalm 1:2, which says of the godly, blessed man:

But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. (N.K.J.V., emphasis mine)

The Hebrew word translated as “meditates” is hagah. Specifically, it refers to the sighs and low sounds a person makes while musing over something. Imagine a man or woman silently reading a line from a book, pausing for a moment to give in-depth consideration to the line, and then lowly saying, “Hmmm…” That catches the idea behind the word.

The application of Psalm 1:2 is three-fold. First, we should devote diligent, somber study to God’s written word. Second, this studying should be done “day and night.” By the way, this doesn’t mean an employee has to quit work and study the Bible full time or that a student has to quit school and only study the Bible. It does mean, though, that we should make time during the day and night to study the holy scriptures. And then third, even more than just making time to study the scriptures, our studying should be serious enough to cause us to say, “Hmmm…” as God’s truths are driven deep into our hearts.

It’s been said that we hold our Bibles high but rarely open them. The average person’s Bible study might even be compared to the eating habits of a certain tribe of backwoods Aborigines in Australia. The explorers and researchers who discovered this tribe studied the tribe’s cultural habits and noticed that by age thirty the adults had practically no teeth. Further study gave the reason for this odd condition. It was learned that the tribe enjoyed cooking meat in the open sand with water and fire, and the meat was eaten with the sand actually clinging to it. As a result, by the time the adults reached the age of thirty, the years of having their teeth ground away by all that sand left them for the most part toothless. This meant that the children had to chew the meat in advance and give it to the adults. This, of course, kept the vicious cycle going because those children wouldn’t have any teeth left when they got to be adults.

That story describes a lot of people’s relationship to the Bible. They want someone else to “chew” the scriptures for them. They want someone else to put in the hard work of studying and then hand them all that knowledge and understanding. In that way, these people never have to meditate upon the scriptures themselves. They can grab a bite here and there from a sermon or a commentary and receive their nourishment that way.

I’m certainly not saying that preachers and teachers don’t have their place in God’s plan. No, everyone ought to enjoy the fruits of the labors of good, solid, doctrinally straight preachers and teachers. But what I am saying is that you need to study the Bible yourself as well. Fine meat might still taste good after it’s been chewed on by someone else, but doesn’t it make for a more pleasurable dining experience when you do your own chewing?

Posted in Bible Study, Discipleship, God's Word, Preaching, Scripture, Teaching, The Bible | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sin’s Progression

Posted on January 5, 2010 by russellmckinney

Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; (Psalm 1:1, N.K.J.V.)

In my previous post, I outlined Psalm 1:1-3 under the title “Blessedness.” Now, with this post, I’d like to narrow the microscope down onto one particular aspect of that passage and offer a word about sin’s progression. What do I mean by “sin’s progression”? I mean that hardened sinners don’t get that way overnight. No, they become hardened in their sin by way of a definite progression of events.

First, the individual in question gets counsel from an ungodly person and puts that wrong counsel into action. That gets him started walking in the wrong direction. That’s why Psalm 1:1 speaks of walking in the counsel of the ungodly.

Second, walking in that unwise counsel takes the individual off the path of God’s will and onto the path of sinners. That’s bad enough, but once he is on that path, he finds that he enjoys the sin. Consequently, he decides to stand around for a while in that path. So, now he’s stopped walking the path of sinners and is, instead, standing on it.

Third, sometime later, the individual gets tired from constantly standing on the path of sinners and chooses to actually sit down on that path. Psalm 1:1 describes this as sitting in the seat of the scornful. That term “the scornful” refers to the most hardened and calloused sinners who occupy that path. You see, when the individual takes his seat with them, he is settling in for a lengthy stay to become a fellow member of that group.

To use a specific sin to illustrate how this sad progression might play out in real life, let’s say that a husband is considering having an affair. He’s having some trouble in his marriage, and there is a woman at work who seems to be just what he needs. Well, rather than seek out wise counsel from a godly person who knows the Bible and how to apply it to life, this husband gets counsel from an ungodly buddy of his. This buddy has been married and divorced three times and had numerous affairs over the course of those marriages. Naturally, the buddy tells the tempted husband, “Have the affair. You’ll be glad you lived a little.”

Now the husband has a choice to make. Will he walk in that ungodly counsel by having the one-night stand with the coworker? Or will he keep himself safely inside the confines of God’s will for his life? Tragically, the husband makes the wrong choice and opts to have the one-night stand. In doing that, he is walking in the counsel of the ungodly.

Okay, what happens next? The husband discovers that he enjoys the one-night stand very much. Not only does he keep the affair under wraps, he finds that the sneaking around is exciting! This leads him to start meeting once or twice a week for sexual rendezvouses with the coworker. What’s he doing now? He is standing in the path of sinners as his rebellion toward God has become deeper and more concrete.

Then, somewhere along the way, that adulterous husband goes from standing in the path of sinners to sitting down in the seat of the scornful. He becomes cynical and hardened. In some illogical way, he’s angry at God because God didn’t give him a “happily-ever-after” marriage. This causes him to start mocking the things of God and despising anything remotely spiritual.

Do you see the progression of sin? First, there is the walking. Then there is the standing. Finally, there is the sitting down. That is sin’s progression.

And would you believe the story doesn’t even end there? Sadly, it begins anew and repeats itself on another victim. Sticking with the example of the adulterous husband, when a young man naively asks the hardened, scornful sinner about marriage, he sarcastically answers, “Yeah, that’s what you need to do. Go and get married. Hook yourself up to that old ball and chain.” That answer, of course, comes under the category “the counsel of the ungodly,” and the naive potential groom then has to make his own decision as to whether or not to walk in it and begin his own line of sin’s progression.

Posted in Adultery, Backsliding, Choices, Counsel, Doing Good, Holiness, Husbands, Influence, Marriage, Personal Holiness, Repentance, Seeking Advice, Sin, Temptation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments