Stopping Short (post #2 of 3)

Posted on November 17, 2021 by russellmckinney

And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. (Genesis 11:31, N.K.J.V.)

While Abram was living with his family in Mesopotamia (Ur), God said to him, “Get out of your country and from your relatives, and go to a land that I will show you.” Abram wasn’t even specifically told to take his wife Sarai with him, but since God isn’t in the business of breaking up marriages, her accompaniment was surely implied. Abram, however, stopped short of carrying out God’s plan.

It’s not that Abram missed God’s will completely. After all, he did take Sarai and leave Ur. The problem was that Terah (Abram’s father) and Lot (Abram’s nephew) went along on the journey. Why did Abram allow that? One possibility is that Abram enjoyed the comfort level of having his dad and nephew along for the trip. Another possibility — one that I favor as an interpretation of the events — is that Terah was something of a domineering father who wasn’t about to let Abram leave him behind in Ur while he and Sarai went off to build a new life together. As I pointed out in the previous post, the wording of Genesis 11:31 (our text verse for this post) makes Terah, rather than Abram, the driving force behind the big move.

If I am correct in the way I’m reading between the lines, there is a strong warning here that goes out to parents, particularly fathers. Parent, it isn’t your job to run your child’s life. Once your child reaches a certain age, God wants that child to get out on his/her own and become a responsible adult. He wants that child to live the life that He has planned, not the one that you have planned. We parents might not always like or agree with God’s plan for our kids, but we must faithfully turn our children over to Him.

But now let’s get back to our story and find a second instance where Abram stopped short of doing all of the will of God. Not only did he stop short of leaving his entire family behind in Ur and heading off (along with Sarai) on his own, he also stopped short of making it to Canaan, the land where God was taking him. We read about this stoppage in Genesis 11:31, the closing words of which say:

…and they came to Haran and dwelt there.

If you will look at a map, you will see that Abram and his group didn’t take a straight-line path to Canaan. Such a path would have led them through the Arabian desert. Instead, they followed the Euphrates river up around the desert. Haran was about 600 miles from Ur, which means that they traveled quite a ways toward Canaan. But Haran was still short of Canaan.

Interestingly, Haran was also the name of another one of Terah’s sons (Genesis 11:27). That son had died in Ur after having fathered Lot (Genesis 11:28). The fact that the fatherless Lot was not only Abram’s nephew but also Terah’s grandson no doubt played a major factor in him accompanying them when they left Ur. Also, the fact that Terah had given one of his sons the name of this city might suggest that Terah was originally from this city. If this was the case — and it’s certainly not a definite fact — this would help explain why Terah was so quick to settle down in Haran rather than press on toward Canaan.

As for the city of Haran, it was a very prosperous place. It was located on an important trade route between Canaan and Syria, and that prime location brought a great deal of commerce into the city. Still, though, worldly ease is no substitute for God’s will, and every day that Abram spent in Haran was another day spent short of accomplishing God’s will for his life.

The takeaway for us from this part of the story is this: Not only can family relationships cause us to stop short of doing all of God’s will, worldly ease can as well. You see, we can be quick to seek God’s will and do it without reservation when we think His will is going to get us out of an undesirable situation. But what about those times when we are quite comfortable where we are? Ah, then it gets a lot tougher to mind God fully.

To Abram’s credit, he had already left a comfortable life once when he had left Ur and headed out for an unknown land. Now, though, God wanted him to do it again by leaving Haran and continuing the journey to Canaan. So, will Abram leave the prosperity of Haran behind and resume the pursuit of His God-appointed destiny? Tune in next time to find out, as we finish up this three-post series. And until then, don’t you settle for some Ur or some Haran in your life when God has a Canaan as your destination.

Posted in Change, Choices, Commitment, Decisions, Disobedience, Dying To Self, Faith, Faithfulness, Family, Fatherhood, God's Will, Obedience, Parenting, Rebellion, Series: "Stopping Short", Submission, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Stopping Short (post #1 of 3)

Posted on November 15, 2021 by russellmckinney

Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (Genesis 12:1-3, K.J.V.)

Did you know that a clock that is just five minutes off is more dangerous than a clock that is five hours off? If a clock is five hours off, anyone can see that it is obviously wrong and ignore it. But if a clock is just five minutes off, it can fool anybody. That kind of a clock can cause you to be late for work. It can cause you to miss a flight or an appointment. Well, along the same lines, one of the most dangerous alternatives to the will of God is the one that is off by just five minutes. It is often no more than you stopping short of doing ALL that God wants you to do.

The Bible character “Abraham” is legendary around the world, but he actually began his life as “Abram.” He and his family lived in Ur of the Chaldeans, the Chaldeans being people who lived in the country that would become historically known as Babylon. As a matter of fact, Ur was in the same general area as Genesis chapter 11’s infamous city of Babel.

Reaching far back into human history, that entire region was a popular place for people to settle. What made it so appealing was the fact that two great rivers (the Tigris and the Euphrates) flowed through there. As evidence of this, Acts 7:2 says that Abram lived in Mesopotamia. The name “Mesopotamia” means “between the two rivers.” Today we know that land as Iraq, and the Tigris and the Euphrates both empty into what is now called the Persian Gulf.

The Ur of Abram’s day was a wealthy and populous city. That was the good news. The bad news was that it was also a center of idol worship. Does it surprise you to learn that Abram and his family were a family of idolaters? Joshua 24:2 says:

And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the river (the Euphrates) in old times; and they served other gods. (N.K.J.V.)

What seems strange about this family’s idolatry is the fact that the genealogy of Genesis chapter 11 starts at Noah’s son Shem and ends at Abram. In other words, Abram could trace not only his genetic lineage but also his spiritual lineage back to Noah and Noah’s godly son Shem. How then did the servitude of other gods get into the lives of Shem’s descendants, people such as Abram’s family? The best explanation I can offer is that somewhere along the line the members of that family fell in love with the ways of those who worshiped false gods. It probably began with a family member before Abram’s father Terah, but that Joshua 24:2 verse does explicitly state that Terah served other gods.

Okay, so why I am I mentioning all of this? I’m mentioning it because it’s important for us to understand Abram’s background. When we understand his background, we can better understand why God asked him to do what He asked him to do. And what was that? God asked him to leave his family behind in Ur and travel to a land that God would show him. You see, on the surface, such a command might seem harsh in light of family love. The command makes more sense, though, when we take into account the idolatry of Abram’s family. Obviously, God wanted Abram to break his ties with idolatry, and that meant breaking his ties with his family. As Acts 7:2-3 says concerning Stephen

And he said, “Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ (N.K.J.V.)

Unfortunately, however, Abram stopped short of fully obeying God’s command. In regards to the Biblical account, the problem crops up in Genesis 11:31. As you read that verse, see if you can spot the mistake Abram made:

And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan… (N.K.J.V.)

The problem was that Abram took his dad (Terah) and his nephew (Lot) along with him when he and his wife (Sarai) pulled up stakes from Ur to head out for the land (Canaan) that God would show him. Remember what God specifically told Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family, and from your father’s house.” But when it came time for the big move, Abram took Terah and Lot along with him. Even worse, the way Genesis 11:31 is worded, Terah, not Abram, was the ramrod behind the whole operation. The verse doesn’t say that Abram took his dad, his nephew, and his wife. Instead, it says that Terah took his son, his grandson, and his daughter-in-law! Do you see the difference? As for no mention being made of Terah’s wife, evidently he was a widower.

In closing, let me say that there is nothing automatically wrong with being tight with the members of your family. There isn’t even anything wrong with living in close proximity to them. But there is plenty wrong when you put your relationship with them ahead of your relationship with God, and there is plenty wrong when you take what you know to be the will of God and filter it through their opinions. Can it be difficult to go against your family, especially when it comes to life-altering decisions? Definitely. But if the alternative is missing God’s will, even by just five minutes, it’s much better to cross your family than cross Him.

Posted in Change, Children, Choices, Commitment, Decisions, Disobedience, Dying To Self, Faith, Faithfulness, Family, God's Will, Obedience, Parenting, Rebellion, Seeking Advice, Series: "Stopping Short", Submission, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Paul Thought Jesus Was Coming Really, Really Soon

Posted on November 12, 2021 by russellmckinney

Name just about any generation of Christians, and you’ll find that those Christians suspected they were living in the “end times” when the events of prophetic passages such as Matthew chapters 24 and 25 and the entire book of The Revelation were beginning. Certainly this current generation of Christians has that suspicion. But did you know that even the apostle Paul felt that way about his day?

I’ll cite two passages on this topic, the first one being 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. In those verses, Paul describes the Rapture as follows:

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. (N.K.J.V.)

You’ll note Paul’s use of the word “we” there in reference to the Christians who would be alive to experience the Rapture. That’s pretty conclusive evidence that he thought he would be in that group. Please understand, though, that Paul’s erroneous expectation doesn’t invalidate either his ministry or his prophetic word about the Rapture. It just shows that God chose not to correct Paul’s assumption. As for why God played it that way, perhaps He wanted Paul to exemplify the fact that every Christian who is alive on the earth during any era should have the mindset, “The Rapture must be going to take place very, very soon.”

The second passage I’ll cite as evidence of Paul’s expectation is 1 Corinthians 7:26-33. As you read these verses, see if you can pick up on what Paul is implying about getting married. Trust me, it’s not hard to figure out. The verses say:

Because of the present crisis, I think it is best to remain as you are.  If you have a wife, do not seek to end the marriage. If you do not have a wife, do not seek to get married.  But if you do get married, it is not a sin. And if a young woman gets married, it is not a sin. However, those who get married at this time will have troubles, and I am trying to spare you those problems. But let me say this, dear brothers and sisters: The time that remains is very short. So from now on, those with wives should not focus only on their marriage. Those who weep or who rejoice or who buy things should not be absorbed by their weeping or their joy or their possessions. Those who use the things of the world should not become attached to them. For this world as we know it will soon pass away.  I want you to be free from the concerns of this life. An unmarried man can spend his time doing the Lord’s work and thinking how to please him. But a married man has to think about his earthly responsibilities and how to please his wife. (N.L.T.)

In light of Paul’s mindset about the end of time, his thoughts about marriage make perfect sense, don’t they? I mean, if Jesus really is coming to snatch His people away from this world sometime in the next few days or weeks, each Christian would be wise to spend his or her remaining time serving Jesus to the extreme. And since it takes a great deal of time and effort to make a marriage work, that’s time and effort that could be used in prayer, Bible study, and evangelism instead.

Today we are hearing a lot of talk about how we must be living in the absolute final days just prior to the Rapture. Well, maybe we are. That’s definitely a possibility. Then again, Paul was thinking this same thing when he wrote his letters we call 1 Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians, and some 2,000 years have passed since then. I’m just pointing that out.

With this in mind, I would advise you to continue making your mortgage payments and car payments, and don’t quit your job in order to spend all your time sitting on a mountaintop praying and fasting. As is the case with so many things, what we must have in this area is balance, the type of balance that will enable us to live wisely for the Lord in this world even as we confidently expect the one to come. Admittedly, this is not an easy balance to strike, but it’s one that we can strike with God’s help. And it’s one that we must strike if we want to navigate the waters of our lives in a manner pleasing to Him. To live any other way is to either shortchange the imminence of the Rapture or shortchange God’s will for our earthly lives.

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Somebody Got My Goat

Posted on November 10, 2021 by russellmckinney

He calms the storm, So that its waves are still. (Psalm 107:29, N.K.J.V.)

Perhaps you’ve heard the expression, “Somebody got my goat.” Or perhaps you’ve heard someone say, “That person really gets my goat.” To get someone’s goat is to irritate them, make them angry, or unsettle them.

The origin of “Somebody got my goat” is a little unclear, but the idiom is usually attributed to horseracing. As the legend goes, a horse trainer would sometimes calm a high strung horse on the night before a race by putting a goat in the stall with the horse. For some reason, a goat seemed to have a calming influence on a horse. But then there were times when a rival trainer would steal a goat right out of the stall of an opposing horse, and the horse would revert back to its edgy, jumpy nature. Upon finding that the goat had been stolen, the horse’s trainer would say, “Somebody got my goat.”

Tell me, Christian, has someone, some circumstance, or some bit of recent news gotten your goat? Has that person or that thing that has happened robbed you of your inner peace and left you unsettled? If so, you would do well to read Psalm 107.

That Psalm is chocked full of illustrations involving people who found themselves in trouble, called out to the Lord for help, and experienced His deliverance. I particularly love verses 23-30, which use sailors as an illustration. The sailors go down to the sea to do business on the great waters (v.23). Once they are out to sea in their merchant ships, they see how God works in the depths of the ocean (v.24). He commands the winds to blow during a storm, and the winds churn up the ocean waves (v.25). Up and down the waves go, rising higher and higher each time they come up, and they cause the sailors’ hearts to melt (v.26). In a panic, the sailors stagger and pitch, trying their best not to get knocked overboard (v.27). It is then that they cry out to the Lord (v.28) and experience the deliverance He provides by calming the storm and stilling the waves (v.29). Then the sailors are glad, and the Lord guides them to their desired haven (v.30).

It is impossible to read that passage and not think of the time when Jesus quieted a raging storm upon the Sea of Galilee and calmed the dangerous waves the storm had created. The parallel accounts of that story are found in Matthew 8:23-27, Mark 4:35-41, and Luke 8:22-25. As Mark 4:39 says:

Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. (N.K.J.V)

But then there is another famous story involving Jesus, a big wind, and scary waves. The parallel accounts of that story are found in Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52, and John 6:15-21, and in it Jesus walks upon the tumultuous waves straight through the teeth of a windstorm to reach His chosen 12 apostles on the Sea of Galilee. Only when Jesus joins the apostles in the boat do the wind and the waves turn calm. As Mark 6:51 says:

Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled. (N.K.J.V.)

The point of both stories is that Jesus can bring calmness to situations that are raging and terrifying. If you want Him to do that in your life, though, you must have Him in your boat. Of course, if you are an authentic Christian, you do have Him in your boat, don’t you? So, your best move is to cry out to Him and ask Him to calm the storm in your life. Like those sailors in Psalm 107, you too can be guided to your desired haven by the Lord because, after all, who needs a goat when you have Jesus?

Posted in Adversity, Anger, Christ's Miracles, Comfort, Contentment, Disappointment, Encouragement, Fear, Grace, Inner Peace, Jealousy, Peace, Persecution, Problems, Revenge, Suffering, Trials, Worry | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Good Thing About Trouble

Posted on November 8, 2021 by russellmckinney

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. (James 1:2-3, N.L.T.)

Dr. Lee Roberson was scheduled to preach the following night as part of a Bible conference. His announced sermon was “The Secret of Greatness.” Pastor Tom Wallace showed up early that night because he didn’t want to miss one word of that sermon. He had his pen and notebook in hand and was ready to write down every single point that Roberson made about what it takes to be great. Then Roberson walked to the pulpit and said to the audience, “I give you tonight the secret of greatness. It is found in one key word. The word is Trouble.”

Sometime later, Wallace wrote the following:

I was so disappointed not to get a systematic formula of instruction from Dr. Roberson based upon his years of experience and success. But the more he preached, the more I realized that what he was saying was the true secret of greatness. People react to trouble in several different ways. Some grumble, others gripe, many growl, a few groan; then there are those who grieve and thank the Lord; then some grow. Trouble will never leave one the same.

Christian, don’t miss the precise order that Wallace employs in his quote. First, come the words “then there are those who grieve.” Second, come the words “and thank the Lord.” Only then come the words “then some grow.” The point is, if you can get to the place where you can move past your grieving and be genuinely thankful for your trouble — because you understand that the trouble provides you with the opportunity to have your faith tested — then you can grow spiritually.

James, in our text passage, even uses the word “joy” in relation to the Christian experiencing trouble. Was he nuts? How can anyone be joyful about having to endure a bout of trouble? The answer is, while God doesn’t expect us to be joyful about the trouble itself, He does want us to be joyful that He is going to use the trouble to build our perseverance and faith. Just as athletes lift weights to build up their muscles, better their performance, and increase their endurance, troubles play this same role (spiritually speaking) in the life of the Christian.

I must admit that I myself have certainly not mastered this lesson yet. When trouble comes my way, I’m still quick to grumble, gripe, growl, and groan about it. Then, once I’ve passed through all that, I’m also pretty good at grieving over the trouble, even to the point of becoming morbidly obsessive over it. But I’m still flummoxed about thanking the Lord for the trouble. I just can’t see past all the bad stuff about the trouble in order to see the good work that God is doing on me through it.

Perhaps, Christian, you can relate to what I’m saying. Maybe you find yourself right now in the midst of a round of trouble, and you really haven’t give any thought to how God is using it to build spiritual perseverance into your life. All I can encourage you to do is take the words of James 1:2-3 and apply them to your life the best you can. Every time you ask God to take away your trouble, follow up that request by asking Him to not only grow your faith and perseverance by way of the trouble but even get you to the point where you are THANKFUL for the trouble.

Is this a tall order? Of course. No one would dispute that. But the alternative to having to endure trouble is to spend your life as a shallow, superficial, immature person who can’t relate to the problems of others and is therefore far too self-absorbed to ever render any real service to God. Obviously, that alternative isn’t a good one from God’s perspective, and that’s why He allows us to go through trouble sometimes. You see, just as Dr. Lee Roberson and Tom Wallace figured out, trouble is the secret sauce that makes spiritual growth happen, and spiritual growth is the secret sauce that makes spiritual greatness possible.

Posted in Adversity, Attitude, Commitment, Disappointment, Discipleship, Faithfulness, Joy, Persecution, Perseverance, Personal, Problems, Service, Spiritual Warfare, Suffering, Trials, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Lord, This Isn’t What I Requested”

Posted on November 4, 2021 by russellmckinney

Perhaps you’ve seen the following piece (or at least some version of it):

I asked for strength — and God gave me difficulties to make me strong. I asked for wisdom — and God gave me problems to solve. I asked for prosperity — and God gave me brawn and a brain to work. I asked for courage — and God gave me danger to overcome. I asked for love — and God gave me troubled people to help. I asked for favors — and God gave me opportunities. I received nothing I wanted — I received everything I needed!

Anyone who has spent much time walking with the Lord and serving Him can understand the truth of this piece. There really are times when we ask for the finished product only to have Him send us the tools to build it ourselves. I guess we can label these answers, “Some assembly required.”

Even more puzzling and disappointing, however, are the times when we specifically ask for “A” but the Lord sends “B” or “C.” I’m referring now to those prayer request answers that can’t even be labeled “Some assembly required.” Instead, they should come with a handwritten note that says, “I know this is not what you asked for, but it’s what I sent.” Those answers are definitely the hardest ones to understand.

I’m happy to report, though, that in Luke 11:9-13, we find a teaching from Jesus that can help us sort through all the confusion created by such answers. You probably know the passage already because it gets quoted a lot, but I wonder if you’ve ever really grasped what it says. Let me give you a hint: it doesn’t say what most people think it says. The passage quotes Jesus as saying:

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” (N.K.J.V.)

Okay, so did you catch what Jesus threw there? After reading Jesus’ words about how earthly fathers know enough to give their children bread when the request is for bread, fish when the request is for fish, and an egg when the request is for an egg, we would assume that He would say, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to His children.” Furthermore, if Jesus had actually said that, we would be right to assume that if we specifically ask God the Father for something that is good, He will grant us that specific good thing.

The catch, however, is that Jesus didn’t say, “…how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to His children.” No, what He said was, “If sinful earthly fathers know how to give good gifts to their children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.” You see, what Jesus wants us to understand is that the Holy Spirit is the greatest gift that God the Father can give anyone.

Now let’s relate this thought to the context of the passage. Since Jesus seems to go out of His way to cram a teaching about the Holy Spirit into the passage, the implication is that the Holy Spirit is God the Father’s abiding gift to the saved believer to help that believer correctly interpret odd answers to prayer requests. What this means for you, Christian, is that when God the Father does answer your prayer request in a strange way, the Holy Spirit will teach you why God did that.

Be warned, though; these teaching sessions will rarely be one-class sessions. Usually they will be much more akin to entire courses or even entire degree programs! If, however, you will keep attending the Holy Spirit’s classes and keep letting Him teach you, He really will eventually get you to the place where you understand God’s reason for sending you something that wasn’t even close to what you requested. As Jesus said of the Holy Spirit in another passage, John 14:26, “The Holy Spirit will teach you all things.” That word “all” certainly includes teaching us God’s purposes in sending us different things than we requested, and we would do well not to skip any of those classes.

Posted in Disappointment, God's Omniscience, God's Provision, Prayer, Prayer Requests, The Holy Spirit | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Best Reference Possible

Posted on November 2, 2021 by russellmckinney

Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before Me, My mind would not be favorable toward this people. Cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth.” (Jeremiah 15:1, N.K.J.V.)

The word of the Lord came again to me, saying: “Son of man, when a land sins against Me by persistent unfaithfulness, I will stretch out My hand against it; I will cut off its supply of bread, send famine on it, and cut off man and beast from it. Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness, says the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 14:12-14, N.K.J.V.)

The prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel both prophesied against Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel. God had given the people of Judah many years to repent of their sins and return to Him, but they had refused to do so. Therefore, all that was left for them was judgment, and the vessel through which God would pour out that judgment was the nation of Babylon.

Setting all that aside, though, what I’d like to focus upon from our text passages are the names that God uses as examples of His choicest servants. First, speaking through Jeremiah, God says, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood (in intercession for Judah) before Me, My mind still wouldn’t be favorable toward this people.” Second, speaking through Ezekiel, He says, “Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job lived in a land that had sunk to the sinful level of Judah, their presence wouldn’t be enough to spare that land My judgment. Those men would be delivered from the judgment, but no one else would be.”

Moses. Samuel. Noah. Daniel. Job. You talk about a “who’s who” of Old Testament characters! Surely it would be difficult to provide the names of any five other people who served God more impressively in that era. You know what it means when you’ve served an employer well enough to receive an excellent reference from that employer, don’t you? Then just apply that illustration to what God does in these passages. He gives each of these five men the best reference possible, one from Himself!

Christian, you should strive to live a life that will allow God to give you this same type of reference. You can’t relive the lives of Moses, Samuel, Noah, Daniel, and Job, but what you can do is live your own life in the best possible way in regards to holiness and service to God. And remember three things about Moses, Samuel, Noah, Daniel, and Job. #1: All five of them were born sinners just like you are. #2: Daniel was still living at the time Ezekiel wrote, which means that you don’t have to be dead to receive a glowing reference from God. #3: Not one of those men had the indwelling Holy Spirit, a completed Bible, a church to attend each week, Christian programming, Christian books, daily devotionals, helpful commentaries, or any of the other spiritual advantages that God’s people enjoy today. You see, all these advantages can help you to earn God’s highest recommendation upon the way you are living, and that’s definitely a good reference to have as you live in this sin-sick world that is itself prophesied as heading for judgment.

Posted in Character, Current Events, Discipleship, Doing Good, Faithfulness, God's Judgment, God's Work, Ministry, Personal Holiness, Righteousness, Sanctification, Service | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Foundational Cracks & Little Foxes

Posted on October 29, 2021 by russellmckinney

Catch us the foxes, The little foxes that spoil the vines, For our vines have tender grapes. (Song of Solomon 2:15, N.K.J.V.)

In Hand Me Another Brick, Chuck Swindoll’s commentary on the book of Nehemiah, he tells the story of a small town in northeastern Pennsylvania that built a red brick building to house its police department, fire department, and city hall. The community was understandably quite proud of the achievement, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to dedicate the building. More than 6,000 people attended, nearly the entire population of the town.

Less than two months later, though, some scary looking cracks suddenly appeared on the side of the building. Not long afterward the building’s windows stopped closing all the way. Next, the same thing happened with the doors. Then the floor shifted so much that unsightly gaps were left in the floor covering and corners. Finally, the roof began to leak. Within a few more months, the building had to be evacuated because it was no longer a safe environment in which to work. The builder who had been hired to build it was beyond embarrassed, and the taxpayers who would be paying for it for years to come were furious.

A firm was brought in to do a thorough analysis of what had happened. After much research the firm concluded that the blasts from a nearby mining area were slowly but surely creating unseen shifts in the ground beneath the building’s foundation. Those shifts were causing the foundation to crack, and those cracks were creating an unstable platform for the building. Even though no one could feel the blasts in the town, what was happening out of sight deep down underground was affecting what was happening in sight above the ground. Once this truth became known, a city official had to write the following words across the door to the building: “Condemned. Not fit for public use.” Later on the building was demolished.

This story should serve as a reminder to you, Christian. It should remind you that little problems deep down inside you can ultimately cause the demolition of your personal life. A slight spiritual compromise here…Cutting a moral corner there…A quick dance with rebellion…A worldly relationship left unchecked…A pet sin continued…No interest in Bible study…No time for prayer…Church attendance not a priority…Giving optional…Witnessing non existent. Each of these is a detonation that creates a shock wave inside you, the effects of which will eventually begin cropping up in your conduct. The answer, of course, is confession and repentance because as long as your destructive blasts keep occurring, you’ll never get your foundation fixed.

In Song of Solomon 2:15, the Bible references how the little foxes were the ones that were well known for ruining grape vines in Israel. Whereas the larger foxes could easily be spotted and either caught or at least kept away from the vine, the little foxes were harder to manage. In that way, they played the role of object lessons to show that it’s the supposed “little” sins that can ruin a life. Therefore, Christian, you need to stop your blasting and curtail your little foxes. And if you refuse to do so, the result will surely be a life that becomes irreparably damaged.

Posted in Backsliding, Bible Study, Character, Church Attendance, Confession, Giving, Personal Holiness, Prayer, Repentance, Sin, Temptation, Witnessing | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The Wednesday Worry Box

Posted on October 27, 2021 by russellmckinney

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. (Philippians 4:6, New Living Translation)

Today is Wednesday and so I thought I’d share an illustration geared specifically to that day. It comes from the life of British industrialist J. Arthur Rank. Rank was a devout Methodist who had a unique way of dealing with worries.

Being a very busy man, Rank frequently found himself consumed with worldly worries. Try as he might, he just couldn’t make himself stop worrying. So, he decided that if he couldn’t stop worrying altogether, he would at least attempt to minimize the problem. He did this by selecting a box and calling it his “Wednesday Worry Box.”

Anytime something came up that caused Rank to worry, he wrote it down on a piece of paper and placed it inside the box. Then, each Wednesday, he opened the box and reviewed the list of worries that had built up since the previous Wednesday. And what did Rank discover about his worries? To his great surprise, he discovered that most of the things he had worried about had gotten themselves settled enough by Wednesday to no longer merit worry. This taught him that most worry is nothing more than a completely unnecessary waste of energy.

Much of worry’s bite comes from our fear of the unknown, doesn’t it? Since we don’t know what is surely going to happen, we worry about what might happen. Perhaps we would do well to put J. Arthur Rank’s experiment into action. Even if we don’t literally start writing out our worries and placing them inside a box, we can at least learn the same lesson that he learned: that most worry is a waste of energy.

Of course, God’s written word doesn’t tell us to sit around, be passive, and just hope that our worries evaporate. Instead, it advises us to pray about everything (including everything that has us worried). In other words, we should turn every worry into a prayer. That goes for Wednesdays and every other day of the week. So what is it that has you worried today? Whatever it is you should take it to God and leave it with Him. You see, He is the ultimate “worry box” and since nothing is unknown to Him, He can handle whatever we bring Him.

Posted in Adversity, Courage, Faith, Fear, God's Foreknowledge, Inner Peace, Prayer, Prayer Requests, Problems, Trials, Trusting In God, Worry | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Did God the Father Beget Jesus?

Posted on October 25, 2021 by russellmckinney

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16, K.J.V.)

The Bible is a book filled with genealogies and begetting. Its first use of the word “begat” is found in Genesis 4:18, which tells us that Irad begat Mehujael, Mehujael begat Methusael, and Methusael begat Lamech. With all the begetting that took place, both the Old Testament and the New Testament of the classic King James Version translation provide us with numerous uses of the words “begat,” “beget,” “begettest,” “begetteth,” and “begotten.”

The Old Testament Hebrew word for all this begetting is yalad. The New Testament Greek equivalent is gennao. Both words mean what you think they mean. When used in reference to women, they mean “to bear young,” “to bring forth,” “to deliver,” etc. When used in reference to men, they mean “to father.”

Herein lies the problem with the King James Version and the New King James Version. Their use of the word “begotten” in John 1:14; 1:18; 3:16; 3:18; and 1 John 4:9 make it sound as if God the Father somehow fathered Jesus rather than Jesus being eternal (having no beginning) like God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Putting it another way, they make it sound as if Jesus is a created being and therefore not a fully equal member of the Trinity.

This idea that Jesus was somehow created (begotten) by God the Father allows some false religions to deny the divinity of Jesus. For example, the Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that Jesus was “the first and direct creation of Jehovah God,” and that unlike God the Father He had a distinct beginning. Similarly, the Mormons believe that God the Father literally fathered Jesus (brought Him into existence) by coming down to the earth in a celestial body and having sex with the virgin Mary.

Actually, this controversy about Jesus’ eternality and divinity goes all the way back to the fourth century A.D. and an influential heretical Presbyter named Arius. In the city of Alexandria, he clashed with his denominational superior, a Bishop named Alexander. While Alexander taught that Jesus coexisted from eternity past with God the Father, Arius taught that there was a time when Jesus “was not.” This new interpretation of Jesus became known as “Arianism.” The dispute between Alexander and Arian reached a fever pitch when Alexander publicly condemned Arius’ teachings and used his influence to have him removed from his post in the church at Alexandria. Arius refused to accept this removal and instead organized his supporters into a public crusade in his defense.

The whole mess became such a scandal that the Roman emperor Constantine had to get involved. When his attempt to reconcile the two factions failed, he scheduled a Council in which all the Christian Bishops from throughout his empire were invited to gather in the city of Nicea to settle various doctrinal disputes. This convening of these Bishops became famously known as The Council of Nicea, and first and foremost the Council had the job of deciding what to do about Arianism. Since Arius himself wasn’t a Bishop and therefore couldn’t attend, one of his prominent supporters, Bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia, represented him. In the end, The Council of Nicea ruled against Arianism and in favor of the traditional view of Jesus espoused by Alexander.

Getting back to the the King James Version and New King James Version, the sad thing is that those translations create a theological problem they don’t even have to create. Do you remember that I told you that the Greek word for “begat” is gennao? Well, the adjective form of that word is not the Greek word that gets translated as “begotten” in John 1:14; 1:18; 3:16; 3:18; and 1 John 4:9. Instead, the Greek word used in those verses is monogenes. It is the word used in Luke 9:38 when the father of a demon-possessed boy says to Jesus, “…look upon my son; for he is my only child” (K.J.V., emphasis mine). This shows us that even the translators of the K.J.V. didn’t always translate monogenes as “begotten.” With this in mind, let me offer a list of how seven modern translations translate John 3:16. You’ll note that each of these foregoes the word “begotten” and uses instead some form of the term “only Son.”

  • For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. (New American Standard Version)
  • For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. (Christian Standard Bible)
  • For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. (New Revised Standard Version)
  • For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
  • For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (English Standard Version)
  • God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life. (New International Version)
  • For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. (New Living Translation)

If you can manage to remember the basics of this post, it will help you the next time you are talking to someone from the Jehovah’s Witnesses or the Mormons. All you have to do is ask them, “Do you think that Jesus is a created being?” If they are truthful, they will answer, “Yes.” Then you can correct their theology. Even if they try to use John 3:16 against you, you’ll be able to refute their claims that God the Father somehow created Jesus by begetting Him. Of course, if you really want to go “old school” on them, you can tell them their spiritual forefather was Arius and that the church dealt with his doctrinal error a long time ago.

Posted in Bible Study, Christ's Birth, Doctrine, King James Only, Scripture, The Bible | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment