A Lesson From Esau

Posted on February 22, 2021 by russellmckinney

Concerning Esau, Hebrews 12:16-17 gives us these solemn words:

,,,lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears. (N.K.J.V.)

I recently heard a Calvinist preacher reference this passage in his attempt to make the case that Esau wasn’t one of God’s chosen “elect” and therefore couldn’t be granted salvation no matter how many tears he shed in seeking it. What nonsense! The passage doesn’t even have anything to do with salvation.

The two stories in question both take us back to the book of Genesis. First, in Genesis 25:29-34 Esau foolishly sells his birthright to his younger brother, Jacob, for some stew. Second, in Genesis 27:30-40 Jacob deceitfully tricks their father, Isaac, into imparting the patriarchal, spoken blessing upon him rather than Esau. While there is no scriptural record of Esau crying over losing his birthright, there is a record of him crying over losing out on Isaac’s spoken blessing. Genesis 27:34-35 says of the conversation between Esau and Isaac:

…he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me — me also, O my father! But he said, “Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing.” (N.K.J.V.)

The Greek noun translated as “repentance” in Hebrews 12:17 is metanoia. Strictly defined, the word means “a change of mind.” Therefore, the repentance (the change of mind) that Esau sought but couldn’t find was a change of mind from Isaac regarding the spoken blessing. The repentance had nothing to do with Esau because in that instance he hadn’t done anything wrong. All he had done was what Isaac had told him to do, which was kill some game and prepare it the way Isaac liked it.

Unless you are pushing a Calvinist agenda, it isn’t hard to see the point that Hebrews 12:16-17 is making. No matter how much Esau cried and begged to inherit the patriarchal blessing from Isaac, that genie couldn’t be put back in the bottle once Isaac had spoken the blessing upon Jacob. What had been done would have to stand. Furthermore, even though God wasn’t pleased with the deceitful way in which Jacob had received the blessing, He was pleased that Jacob now had it. Even while the twin brothers had been in Rebekah’s womb God had foretold that the older would serve the younger (Genesis 25:21-23). That was another reason, actually the most important one, why Isaac couldn’t change his mind, despite Esau’s pleadings and tears, and perform a redo regarding the imparting of the blessing.

Furthermore, it should be noted that even that business about the older (Esau) serving the younger (Jacob) didn’t have anything to do with salvation. It was, instead, all about the destinies of the two nations that would come from the twins. As God told Rebekah, “Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other” (Genesis 25:23). At no point in their lives did Esau actually serve Jacob in any capacity. However, Esau’s descendants (the Edomites) did ultimately become subservient to Jacob’s descendants (the Jews) during the reign of David (1 Kings 11:14-25) and during the four centuries between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Please don’t misunderstand me, though. I’m not trying to defend Esau or preach him into heaven. As Hebrews 12:16 says, he was a “profane” person.” That word “profane” translates the Greek adjective bebelos and literally means “permitted to be trodden.” This brings me to the lesson that we can learn from Esau.

Esau, in selling his birthright for a simple meal, allowed his spiritual legacy as the older brother to be trodden upon to the point of losing it. This explains why other translations use words such as “godless,” “irreverent,” or “unholy” rather than “profane” to translate bebelos. The point in all these different shades of the word is that Esau was far too careless with spiritually important matters to ever get them right. That’s not the same as him never having the opportunity to get saved, but it’s plenty bad enough.

So, the lesson that we can learn from Esau is this: Placing great value on worldly matters and placing little value on spiritual matters is not the way to go. And how many “profane” people are there out there right now who are treating important spiritual matters (salvation, Bible study, prayer, church attendance, seeking God’s will, etc.) with the same kind of frivolity that Esau showed in selling his birthright for a lunch? You see, what we are talking about here is priorities. Esau’s were seriously out of whack, and we have way too many people today who are acting way too much like him. So, beware lest you yourself trample upon some priceless spiritual treasure or sell it for next to nothing. Sometimes there’s just no coming back from those decisions.

Posted in Calvinism, Election, Priorities | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Sad Fact

Posted on February 19, 2021 by russellmckinney

Here’s a true story from Queensland, Australia. One night a patrolman sat stealthily in his car outside a popular tavern in the expectation of writing someone up for drunk driving. Sure enough, late that evening, a man staggered out of the tavern and looked for all the world like a prime candidate. After trying his keys in no less than four wrong cars, the man finally found the right car and pretty much fell into the driver’s seat. He just sat there motionless for a long time even as other patrons came out of the bar and drove off. The patrolman sat hidden in his car and watched it all happen, all the while thinking to himself, “Just start that car, mister, and pull out onto the highway. Then I’ll have you.”

Finally the man did start his car, but he followed that up by turning the windshield wipers on and off, switching the turn-signal lights on and off, and blowing the horn. It was all quite a sight. Then he put his car into gear, rolled forward a little, stopped, put the car in reverse, and rolled backward a little. Other people were now leaving the bar and getting into their cars, and the patrolman feared the guy might actually cause an accident right there in the parking lot.

It took some more time, but the man did at last get his car headed in the right direction and eased slowly out onto the highway. The patrolman immediately started his car, turned on his flashing lights, and pulled the guy over for a traffic stop. He had the driver get out of the car and take a Breathalyzer test on the spot, a test the outcome of which seemed to be in no doubt. To the patrolman’s amazement, however, the Breathalyzer indicated no evidence whatsoever that the man had consumed any alcohol. Somewhat embarrassed, not to mention downright confused, the patrolman said to the driver, “I’ll have to ask you to accompany me to the Police station because evidently this Breathalyzer equipment is broken.” To that the man replied, “I doubt it. Tonight I’m the designated decoy.”

It’s a sad fact that Satan (usually working through his fellow fallen angels who do his bidding) can cause us to chase all kinds of false decoys that aren’t God’s will for our lives. He deceived Eve into thinking that eating the forbidden fruit was the right way to go (Genesis 3:1-6; 1 Timothy 2:14). He disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). He is full of schemes (Ephesians 6:1; 2 Corinthians 2:10-11). He snatches away the word of God from those who don’t understand it (Matthew 13:19). He lays snares for pastors (1 Timothy 3:7). He blinds the minds of those who do not believe the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). He deceives the whole world (Revelation 12:9). He walks about seeking people to devour (1 Peter 5:8). If he was bold enough to tempt the likes of not only David (1 Chronicles 21:1) but also Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11) in his attempts to deceive them to get them to miss God’s will, don’t think that he won’t do the same to you.

How can you resist his deceptions? According to Ephesians 6:10-20, you must put on the whole armor of God. From the top down, that armor looks like this:

  • the helmet of salvation on your head (Ephesians 6:17): Experience salvation by believing in Jesus.
  • the breastplate of righteousness covering your chest and heart (Ephesians 6:14): Repent of your sins and live a righteous life.
  • the belt of truth around your waist (Ephesians 6:14): Cling to the truth of God’s word as a means of resisting Satan’s deceptions.
  • the shield of faith in one of your hands (Ephesians 6:16): Use faith as a defensive weapon to fend off the flaming arrows of doubt in God’s word that Satan shoots at you.
  • the sword of the Spirit in your other hand (Ephesians 6:17): Use God’s word as an offensive weapon to strike blows against Satan’s lies and deceptions the way Jesus did when Satan tempted Him.
  • the gospel as your shoes (Ephesians 6:15): As you move through life, tell others about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Finally, once you have every part of your armor in place, you should pray, pray again, and then pray some more (Ephesians 6:18). You see, Christian, praying without wearing your spiritual armor leaves you exposed to Satan’s deceptions, but wearing your armor without praying hinders God the Holy Spirit’s guidance regarding how to wear your armor most effectively. It’s not that prayer replaces the need for your armor. What prayer does is fortify your armor to the uttermost. The praying Christian soldier who consistently wears the whole armor of God is the person Satan has the most trouble deceiving, and that’s why you and I would do well to be such people.

Posted in Choices, Decisions, Demons, Discernment, Discipleship, Satan, Spiritual Warfare, The Devil | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Entertaining Angels

Posted on February 17, 2021 by russellmckinney

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. (Hebrews 13:2, N.K.J.V.)

Parents tell their young children, “Don’t talk to strangers.” If a stranger knocks on the door of your home, you instinctively act as a shield to keep him or her from entering. And what about picking up a hitchhiker? In this day and age? C’mon, get real. And yet here we have a Bible verse that incentivizes talking to strangers, letting them in our homes, and picking them up on the road. What’s the incentive? Oh, it’s just the fact that some of those strangers we chose to entertain just might actually be angels in disguise.

The Greek noun used in our text verse is philoxenia, and it combines the two Greek words philos (which means “loving”) and xenos (which means “a stranger”). Naturally, this gets into the idea of hospitality. It isn’t surprising, then, that philoxenia and its adjective form (philoxenos) are the Greek behind the New Testament’s various verses about hospitality. For example, Romans 12:13 says that Christians should be “given to hospitality” (N.K.J.V.). Likewise, 1 Peter 4:9 says: “Be hospitable to one another without grumbling” (N.K.J.V.). And would you believe that both 1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:8 list “hospitable” as being a qualification for the ministry? When was the last time a pulpit committee or an ordination council asked a prospective pastor, “Would you call yourself hospitable?”

Perhaps the New Testament rates hospitality so high because Christians showing hospitality to one another was incredibly important in the days of the early church. Persecuted Christians of that era were oftentimes forced to leave their homes and their cities and relocate to other areas. But where could a Christian who just hit a new town find lodging? Even though there were a few inns scattered here and there, many Christians were too poor to afford them. Therefore, typically, the best place a Christian could stay was with another Christian.

The traveling evangelists and teachers, men such as the apostles, also needed places to stay whenever they came to an area. This explains why John, in verses 5-8 of his epistle of 3 John, encourages a Christian named Gaius to receive such men into his home whenever they came to town. John wanted Gaius to give them a place to rest and something to eat. He describes this ministry as sending those men on their journey “in a manner worthy of God.” Of course, discernment needed to be practiced in regards to differentiating between God-called men and false prophets. Along those lines, in verses 7-11 of the epistle of 2 John, John warns a kindhearted but naive Christian woman about receiving into her home anyone who did not abide in the doctrine of Christ.

But are there really angels out there, in human form, who are just waiting for someone to show them hospitality? A man by the name of Abraham would answer, “Yes.” Genesis chapter 18 gives us the story of how Abraham was sitting in his tent one day to avoid the heat. He peered out of his tent and saw that three men, strangers, had entered his encampment. Even though the three men looked like human beings, somehow Abraham recognized that there was something special, even divine, about them. That prompted him to bolt from his tent, run out to meet them, and bow himself to the ground before them. He begged them to let him provide them with a place to rest, water to wash their feet, and a meal. When the three men took him up on his offer, he had a young calf killed and prepared as the centerpiece of a feast.

And who were those three men? One of them was Jesus (making an Old Testament pre-incarnate appearance) and the other two were angels. Following the meal with Abraham, the two angels started making their way to nearby Sodom while Jesus engaged in an extended conversation with Abraham about Sodom’s imminent destruction.

In the following chapter, Genesis chapter 19, those two angels show up at Lot’s door the evening of that same day. They spend the night with Lot — that’s more hospitality on display — and in the end rescue Lot and some of his family from the destruction that is about to fall upon Sodom. Then the angels rain fire and brimstone down upon not only Sodom but also Gomorrah and the other cities that were located on that plain.

I should point out, though, that there is another possible interpretation to our text passage. Some commentators note that the Greek word angelos that gets translated as “angel” throughout the New Testament literally means “messenger.” In the King James translation, the word is even translated as “messenger” (or “messengers”) in: Matthew 11:10; Mark 1:2; Luke 7:24, 27; Luke 9:52; 2 Corinthians 12:7; and James 2:25. Also, angelos is used each time in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 in reference to the “angel” of each of the seven churches to which Christ speaks. Many commentators understand the word as it is used in those instances to refer to the pastors of those churches rather than to literal angels.

By bringing this alternative translation of angelos to bear upon Hebrews 13:2, we find that it’s at least possible that the strangers in question aren’t literal angels in human disguise but rather regular humans who have some message from God for the person who shows them hospitality. Perhaps the stranger won’t even realize that he or she has this message. In such cases, it could be that something the person says in the normal flow of conversation with the one showing the hospitality might be God’s way of imparting helpful information and insight to that hospitable person. Ironically, if this interpretation does hold water, it would be the stranger himself or herself, rather than the person showing the hospitality, who would be doing something unwittingly that resulted in unforeseen but pleasant consequences.

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The Middle

Posted on February 15, 2021 by russellmckinney

Did you watch the Super Bowl this year? If so, did you see Jeep’s commercial featuring Bruce Springsteen? The commercial was called “The Middle” and featured Springsteen visiting a tiny chapel that purportedly stands on the site of the exact geographical middle of the lower 48 states. In the ad, Springsteen tells us that the chapel never closes and is open to all. He even reverently lights a candle in there at one point. His closing words in the commercial are as follows:

We need the middle. We just have to remember the very soil we stand on is common ground. So, we can get there. We can make it to the mountaintop, through the desert, and we will cross this divide. Our light has always found its way through the darkness. And there’s hope, on the road, up ahead.

Unfortunately for Jeep and for Springsteen, the ad ended up going over like a lead balloon because of the crater-sized problems associated with it. First, it seemed downright strange that an ad about a chapel that never closes wouldn’t make one mention of prayer, the Bible, or God. Is that place a chapel or a vaguely religious barn? Second, Bruce Springsteen in no way, shape, or form exemplifies the blue-collar “middle” of America. No rock star with a net worth of approximately 500 million dollars who hobknobs with elites, campaigns for Democratic candidates, serves as an LGBT activist, and masquerades as a “common man” gets to play that role. Third, as we found out in the days following the commercial’s airing, Springsteen had been charged in his home state of New Jersey with a DWI on November 14, 2020. For obvious reasons, that little tidbit of news was kept buried until after Super Bowl Sunday and the airing of the commercial. After all, what car company wants as its spokesperson a guy who just got charged with driving while intoxicated? That certainly would have provided a completely different backstory to an aging celebrity stoically riding around in an old jeep as part of a commercial about how to fix America. It’s no wonder that Jeep pulled the ad off You Tube as soon as news of the DWI broke.

I myself couldn’t help but see the divine irony of the whole scandal. It was as if God was shouting out to America, “I’m not looking for people who want to assemble on the compromising ground called ‘the middle.’ I’m looking for soldiers who will take their stand with My written word and live their lives based upon its clear teachings in the face of a society that is marked for judgment.”

And as for that all-inclusive, non-judgmental, “hippie type” Jesus that so many people love to talk about, they might want to read ALL of His quotes and not just cherry pick a few that suit their purposes. In one of those quotes, He says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me” (John 14:6, N.K.J.V.). In another, He says, “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad” (Matthew 12:30, N.K.J.V.). In another, He says, “….because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:16, N.K.J.V.).

I don’t hear much “middle” in any of that, do you? That’s why I won’t be taking Springsteen’s advice anytime soon by joining him in the worldly middle. I don’t consider myself a radical extremist, and you needn’t bother looking for me in any of the footage from the recent siege of the Capitol Building, but I understand full well that serving Jesus and remaining true to the Bible places me firmly in the minority of society. That, I know, is my earthly station, not in the middle but in the minority. I will say one thing, though, about those of us in that minority: we know full well what to do inside a chapel, and it sure ain’t light a candle.

Posted in Alcohol, Coming Judgment, Current Events, Discipleship, Faithfulness, God's Wrath, God's Judgment, Perseverance, Personal, Politics, Salvation, Scripture, The Bible | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Scarlet Worm

Posted on February 13, 2021 by russellmckinney

But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people. (Psalm 22:6)

Early church leaders sometimes called Psalm 22 “the fifth gospel” because it is quoted in the New Testament so many times in reference to Jesus. While the Psalm was written by David and finds its immediate relevance to the events of his life, there’s no denying that many of its passages find their highest prophetic relevance in the events of Christ’s death. Consider the following examples (all references from the N.K.J.V.):

  • Psalm 22:1: My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34)
  • Psalm 22:7-8: All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, “He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!” (Matthew 27:39-44; Mark 15:29-32; Luke 23:35)
  • Psalm 22:16: For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; (John 20:25)
  • Psalm 22:17: I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. (John 19:31-36; see also Numbers 9:11-14 in reference to the fact that none of the bones of a Passover lamb were to be broken).
  • Psalm 22:18: They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots. (Matthew 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:34; John 19:24)

Our text verse, Psalm 22:6, provides us with yet another direct tie-in to Christ’s death. Admittedly, the words of the verse are never quoted in the New Testament, but that doesn’t mean they can’t easily be applied to Jesus. For one thing, the lines “A reproach of men,” “despised by the people,” and “All those who see Me ridicule Me” naturally take our minds to Jesus during His arrest, trials, scourging, and crucifixion. For another thing, there is something really fascinating about that line “But I am a worm.”

The Old Testament Hebrew uses two different words for “worm.” One word is rimmah, which refers more or less to a maggot. The other word is tola, which refers to the so-called “crimson (scarlet) worm.” The word used in Psalm 22:6 is tola. Therefore, the teaching is that Jesus, in dying, figuratively became a type of crimson (scarlet) worm. To help us understand the imagery, let me offer the following extended quote from the website discovercreation.org:

The Crimson worm (coccus ilicis) is a very special worm that looks more like a grub than a worm. When it is time for the female or mother Crimson worm to have babies (which she does only one time in her life), she finds the trunk of a tree, a wooden fencepost or a stick. She then attaches her body to that wood and makes a hard crimson shell. She is so strongly and permanently stuck to the wood that the shell can never be removed without tearing her body completely apart and killing her.

The Crimson worm then lays her eggs under her body and the protective shell. When the baby worms (or larvae) hatch, they stay under the shell. Not only does the mother’s body give protection for her babies, but it also provides them with food – the babies feed on the LIVING body of the mother!

After just a few days, when the young worms grow to the point that they are able to take care of themselves, the mother dies. As the mother Crimson worm dies, she oozes a crimson or scarlet red dye which not only stains the wood she is attached to, but also her young children. They are colored scarlet red for the rest of their lives.

After three days, the dead mother Crimson worm’s body loses its crimson color and turns into a white wax which falls to the ground like snow. So what did Jesus mean by saying “I am a worm”? There are a lot of ideas what Jesus might have meant, but nobody really knows for sure. However, it is very interesting that, just like the Crimson worm, Jesus sacrificed or gave up his life on a tree so that his children might be washed with his crimson blood and their sins cleaned white as snow. He died for us, that we might live through him!

In closing, let me say that anything that has to do with the colors crimson or scarlet should immediately remind us of those famous words from Isaiah 1:18. In that verse, God speaks directly to the Jews of Judah and talks about their sins. That is the verse’s contextual application. By broader application, however, since our sins are the same brand as their sins, the words can be claimed by us as well.

God describes the people’s sins as being “like scarlet” and “red like crimson.” But then He offers hope that those sins can become as white “as wool.” How can that happen? According to the teaching of scripture, it happens when an individual places saving belief in Jesus, the ultimate “crimson worm,” who died on a Roman cross in order that we might have the opportunity to have our sins eternally cleansed and made as white as snow. In light of this glorious truth, I can’t think of a better way to end this post than simply to quote that Isaiah 1:18 verse. I trust that it will be as much an encouragement to you as it is to me

“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.” (N.K.J.V.)

Posted in Christ's Death, Crucifixion, Forgiveness, God's Love, God's Mercy, Good Friday, Grace, Salvation | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Enduring Hardship

Posted on February 11, 2021 by russellmckinney

You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. (2 Timothy 2:3, N.K.J.V.)

Adoniram Judson had been formally appointed as a missionary to India by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and he was all set to spend the rest of his life as a missionary in that foreign land. That board of missions had been founded a couple of years earlier at a gathering held at a certain local church. One of the deacons of that church was a man named John Hasseltine who had a daughter named Ann.

Adoniram and Ann had first met at that gathering and had fallen in love. Since this was during the days when a young man was expected to ask his potential fiance’s father for her hand in marriage, Adoniram was prepared to do that. However, he knew that Ann marrying him would probably mean that her family would never see her again once she and Adoniram left for the mission field. Even worse, he also knew that he and Ann could both be killed or die premature deaths as a result of their efforts to take the gospel into India.

After a good deal of praying and thinking about the matter, Adoniram decided to write Mr. Hasseltine a letter in which he would ask for permission to marry Ann. The relevant section of the letter reads as follows:

“I have now to ask, whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of missionary life; whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean, to the fatal influence of the southern climate of India; to every kind of want and distress; to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death.

“Can you consent to all this, for the sake of Him who left his heavenly home, and died for her and for you; for the sake of perishing, immortal souls, for the sake of Zion, and the glory of God? Can you consent to all this, in hope of soon meeting your daughter in the world of glory, with the crown of righteousness, brightened with the acclamations of praise which shall redound to her Savior from heathens saved, through her means, from eternal woe and despair?”

In the end, Mr. Hasseltine left the decision up to Ann herself, and she agreed to marry Adoniram and join him in his missionary work. The couple was married on February 5, 1812, and set sail for India two weeks later on February 19, 1812. They arrived in Calcutta, India, four months later on June 17, 1812, and planned to remain in India for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, however, neither the local Hindu authorities nor the local British authorities thought it was a good idea for Americans to attempt to evangelize Hindus, and so the couple was expelled from Calcutta just a little more than a year later. They then made the decision to devote their missionary endeavors to Burma in Southeast Asia, and on July 13, 1813, they sailed from Calcutta with that destination in mind.

It took a full year for the couple to arrive in Burma, and along the way Ann miscarried their first child. Upon their arrival in Burma, the couple was immediately faced with yet another daunting problem. Whereas India had been dominated by Hinduism, Burma was dominated by Buddhism, and the Burmese language was incredibly difficult to master.

It took Adoniram and Ann more than three full years to learn the language despite the fact that they hired a tutor and studied for twelve hours each day. Sadly, their second child, Roger William Judson, who was born in 1815, died before reaching eight months of age. Despite this devastating setback, however, putting in the time and work to learn the language proved to be a wise move because over the course of his lifetime Adoniram would go on to translate the Bible into Burmese and complete half of a Burmese-English dictionary.

Some four years after arriving in Burma, and after finally mastering the Burmese language, Adoniram held his first evangelistic service there. History records that he would ultimately found more than 100 churches in Burma and win more than 8,000 converts to Christianity. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the work moved exceedingly slow at first, with the first decade producing just 18 converts under incredibly challenging conditions.

Shall I continue describing the hardships that Adoniram and Ann faced on the mission field in Burma? In 1822, liver problems forced Ann to return home for a brief stay. She arrived back in Burma in 1823, but she had been reunited with Adoniram for only a few months before his work got caught up in the middle of the Anglo-Burmese War and he was arrested by the British army. He was imprisoned for two years under conditions so bad that only he and one other prisoner survived, and to make those years worse the imprisonment left Ann to care for the couple’s third child, Maria, who was born while Adoniram was in prison. Adoniram was finally released in 1826, much to Ann’s delight, but she died from smallpox that same year on October 24, 1826, at the age of 36. Six months later the infant daughter Maria died.

All of this certainly sounds like Adoniram didn’t exaggerate what he wrote in that letter, did he? Such testimonies help me keep in proper perspective the minor problems and inconveniences that I have to deal with as the pastor of a Baptist church here in America. Anytime I start feeling persecuted, all I have to do is read about Adoniram and Ann Judson and other famous missionaries to realize that my little gripes and grumbles come off as sounding incredibly petty when considered in light of what others have faced for the cause of Christ. Like Paul told Timothy, enduring a certain amount of hardship inevitably comes with being a soldier in Christ’s army. All I can say is that we would all do well to endure it as faithfully as Adoniram and Ann Judson did.

Posted in Adversity, Commitment, Dying To Self, Evangelism, Faith, Faithfulness, God's Work, Marriage, Ministry, Missions, Persecution, Perseverance, Problems, Sacrifice, Service, Suffering, Trials, Trusting In God, Witnessing | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Getting Off Your Rock-O-Plane

Posted on February 8, 2021 by russellmckinney

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!'” (Luke 15:17, N.K.J.V.)

Many years ago, back when I was 12 or 13 years old, my cousin Tony and I attended the local carnival one night in the town of Spruce Pine. Since we weren’t old enough to drive, Tony’s mom Belle drove us. Actually, she didn’t drop us off at the carnival site. We hadn’t eaten supper yet, and so she took us to a restaurant that was located close to the carnival.

The restaurant was called City Drive-In, and it was one of those places where you not only ordered from your car but also ate there after the waiter brought your food out to you. I don’t remember what Tony or Belle ordered, but I ordered a footlong hot dog all the way and a side of fries. That’s what I always got at City Drive-In. They had the best footlong hot dogs in the history of the world.

After we finished eating, Tony and I got out of the car and walked the short distance across a big wooden bridge to get to the carnival site. The first ride we came to was one of those Rock-O-Plane rides. It looked like a ferris wheel except that each of the seats had a steel cage built around it. There were eight cages in all and each one could hold two riders. The cages were designed in such a way as to allow them to rock back and forth. The idea was that the two riders would shift their weight together to get their cage rocking as the ferris wheel went round and round. Each cage was enclosed to keep the riders from falling out. Tony and I had a big time trying to get our cage to flip over completely, but we never could make that happen.

To unload each cage once a ride was finished, the ride’s operator would stop the ride completely, start it up again for a second or two to bring a cage down to the unloading platform, and then unload that cage. Immediately following the unloading, while the cage was still there at the platform, the next two riders would climb into the cage to begin their ride. The operator would then start the wheel again for a second or two to move that cage up one slot on the dial as another cage was brought down to the platform for the same unloading and loading.

As the operator systematically worked our cage down toward the platform, Tony and I were already plotting what ride we should tackle next. But then something strange happened. Evidently, the operator lost count of how many cages he had unloaded and reloaded, and so when the cage Tony and I were in finally worked its way down to the platform, the operator didn’t unload us. Instead, he started the ride back up again in full swing and away we went for a freebie round two.

Like Tony, I was thrilled that we were getting a free ride. It didn’t take long, though, for me to realize that my stomach was quickly becoming an active volcano. That footlong hot dog and those fries were not at all happy about my back-to-back rides on the Rock-O-Plane. I looked over at Tony to see if he was getting sick, but he was so busy working hard to get that cage to rock back and forth that he didn’t even notice that his partner was turning green. I tried to tell him that I wasn’t feeling well, but he obviously didn’t grasp the severity of the situation.

Since I hated to spoil his fun, I tried my best to soldier on through the ride. I knew, though, that my only chance at not throwing up was to make the ride as stable as possible. So, I told Tony that I was about to puke and that he needed to quit trying to rock that cage. It must have been something either in the sound of my voice or in the color of my face that made him realize that I wasn’t joking, and he promptly honored my request. What followed were several harrowing seconds of us trying to keep that cage as stationary as possible and me trying not to lose my supper as the wheel took us round and round.

Try as I might, however, my condition was too far gone, and so at some point the inevitable happened. In an explosion on par with that scene from the movie The Exorcist, up came that hot dog, those fries, and anything else I had eaten in the past year. It went all over me, all over Tony, and all over the inside of that cage. Horrifying doesn’t even begin to describe it. I still remember the shirt I was wearing that night. It was a Carolina blue t-shirt that I had gotten during a family vacation at Myrtle Beach, SC. It had a logo of Myrtle Beach on the front of it and my name (R-U-S-S) on the back. I loved that shirt, but you can believe me when I say that it didn’t look nearly so good with the front of it covered in upchuck.

Finally, mercifully, our ride came to an end, and this time the operator kept his count correctly and brought our cage down to the platform for the unloading and reloading. I staggered out of that cage looking like Jonah after the whale had spit him out, and Tony was right behind me trying to disassociate himself from me as much as he could. He didn’t stand a chance, though, because at that moment we were the only two people in Mitchell county who were covered in the former contents of my stomach. As we walked down the platform, two new riders climbed into our cage, and I heard one of them shriek in horror. I didn’t dare look back or try to explain myself. I just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. All I know is that our cage was surely off limits for the rest of the night unless that ride operator had a water hose close at hand.

As you might guess, our big night at the carnival was over at that point due to the fact that we both needed a shower and a change of clothes. All we could do was retrace our steps back across the big wooden bridge and start looking for a payphone in town so we could call Belle to come get us. (If anyone reading this is too young to know what a payphone is, just Google it.) Needless to say, having to go traipsing through the streets of Spruce Pine in search of a payphone, while we were covered in puke, wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience for two fine young men who were just beginning to notice girls. Conservatively speaking, the whole night probably set both us back at least two years in terms of confidence in social settings.

After a while, though, we did get to a phone and called Belle to come get us. She showed up shortly afterward and couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of what had happened to us, but I saw nothing funny about it. As for Tony, I couldn’t have blamed him if he had opted to never speak to me again. To his credit, though, he didn’t ostracize me for life. First cousins are good that way, you know.

But now we come to the application of this gross story from my youth. Just as I really, really, really needed to get off that Rock-O-Plane ride long before I actually got off it, perhaps you are on a ride of your own right now that is downright unhealthy for you and those around you. I’m talking about a ride of sin, specifically that pet sin of yours, that has had you going around and around and around for years now. Don’t you think it’s long past time that you quit with that sin and got off that ride?

The turning point in Christ’s famous story of The Prodigal Son comes when the son, who finds himself alone, virtually penniless, and working a rock-bottom job, looks around one day and basically asks himself, “What I am doing with my life?” As the exact quote from the story puts it: “he came to himself.” Putting it in more modern language, the fog lifted, the blinders fell off, and the light bulb above his head lit up.

Sadly, there are hordes of people out there who consistently choose to stay aboard their rides of sin rather than disembark from those rides. It doesn’t matter how gnarly the rides get, how much puking takes place, or how many other people get hit with the projectile puke, these folks stay on their rides. Here’s hoping that you aren’t so foolish or so stubborn and that you embrace the Savior, Jesus Christ, who is standing at your ride’s platform waiting with open arms to help you off the ride and into a better life. Like the prodigal son returning to his father, you’ll find that Jesus will meet you with love rather than judgment, mercy rather than rebuke, and forgiveness rather than condemnation. For that matter, he’ll even help you clean up the mess you’ve made. You see, you don’t have to stay on that ungodly ride on which you find yourself. There really is a better life out there for you if you want it, but you first have to come to yourself and want it.

Posted in Addiction, Backsliding, Change, Disobedience, Forgiveness, God's Love, Grace, Personal, Rebellion, Repentance, Restoration, Salvation, Sin, Temptation | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Good Preaching Doesn’t Have to Take Long

Posted on February 5, 2021 by russellmckinney

Short notice was forcing a pastor to miss the next day’s Sunday morning service, and he needed to find someone to fill the pulpit for him. He called several of his preacher friends, but all of them were already committed to other engagements. Next, he asked his church’s deacons and Sunday School teachers if they would be willing to do the job, but not one of them felt comfortable about standing in a pulpit and speaking to a congregation.

Finally, as an absolute last resort, the pastor asked a church member named John if he would be willing to give it a try. John was a devout Christian who never missed a church service, but he was a plainspoken man of precious few words. Despite his lack of oratory skills, however, he agreed to the assignment out of nothing else but a desire to do something for Jesus.

John entered the pulpit the next morning and began his remarks by saying, “If I was a real preacher, I would just use one passage as a text. But since I’m new to this business, I’ll have to use three passages. I hope that’s okay.”

John then had the congregation turn to 1 John 1:7 and promptly read that verse: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sins.” After finishing his reading, John paused for a moment, looked out over the congregation, and said, “That’s my sins away.”

Right on the heels of making that brief application, John immediately had the congregation turn to his second passage, Philippians 4:6. The people scarcely had time to locate the verse before John started reading it: “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” John again paused for second after he finished reading, again looked out over the congregation, and said, “That’s my worries away.”

No sooner was that sentence completed than John had the congregation turn to his final passage, 1 Thessalonians 4:17. The people frantically raced to find the verse because by now they had figured out that John would be reading it in a matter of seconds. Sure enough, as soon as John himself had located the verse, he started reading it: “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” Following that reading came the familiar short pause again and the intentional look at the congregation. Then John said in his matter-of-fact tone, “That’s myself away.”

With that, he asked the congregation to stand and called upon the chairman of the deacons to lead the closing prayer. The chairman of the deacons obliged, and the “Amen” at the end of his prayer officially closed what was probably history’s shortest church service. John had surely filled the pulpit, and he had filled it in fine fashion by giving the congregation three texts to consider and three truths to take out the door and apply to real life. Even more than that, not one member of that congregation would ever forget the simple sermon they heard that day.

Posted in Christ's Return, Church, Forgiveness, God's Provision, Ministry, Needs, Pastors, Prayer, Preaching, Problems, Prophecy, Salvation, Trusting In God, Worry | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Just One More Ungodly Trend

Posted on February 3, 2021 by russellmckinney

More and more in our society the line between sexual classifications is getting blurred. Males are transitioning to become females. Females are transitioning to become males. Schools and businesses are now being forced to offer transgender bathrooms in addition to the typical male and female options. Even the waters of sports are getting muddied as some athletes who were formerly males are now reidentifying as females and, as could be predicted, finding far more success as females. Recently in Connecticut, for example, two male athletes who changed their sexual identification to female proceeded to take 85 opportunities to advance to the next level of competition from female athletes and won 15 state titles that had previously belonged to nine different girls.

But what does the Bible say about transgenderism? Oh, you know what it says. We all know what it says. Even if you don’t know, I’ll bet you can guess and get it right on your very first try. Genesis 1:27 says: “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (N.K.J.V.). Jesus Himself confirmed this divine order by incorporating that verse into His quote in Matthew 19:4-6.

Additionally, there is the long list of passages that expressly condemn any type of homosexuality. That list includes: Genesis 19:1-29; Leviticus 18:22; Leviticus 20:13; Deuteronomy 23:17; Judges 19:11-30; 1 Kings 14:21-24; 1 Kings 15:9-15; 1 Kings 22:41-46; 2 Kings 22:1-2; 2 Kings 23:7; Ezekiel 16:49-50; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 1 Timothy 1:8-10; and Jude v.7. Seriously, how many times does God have to say something for it to be taken as fact?

There is even a Mosaic Law passage, Deuteronomy 22:5, that offers God’s opinion concerning cross-gender dressing. Yes, I’m aware that we no longer live under the Old Testament law, but we can still study that law in order to learn God’s opinions on certain topics. He was, after all, the one who gave the law. And so what does Deuteronomy 22:5 say about cross-gender dressing? It says:

A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the Lord your God. (N.K.J.V.)

You see, the question “What does the Bible teach about transgenderism?” is a simple one to answer. As a matter of fact, it’s so simple that the question itself isn’t even the core issue. The core issue is another question, that being, “Are we going to adhere to the Bible’s clear-as-crystal teachings in the midst of a world that has obviously lost its way?” Sadly, many people have already answered that question wrongly, and all of us are now having to deal with the fallout. Personally, I look for this trend of sexual perversion to continue unabated because the only thing that can curtail it is our society returning to God. And, again sadly, it doesn’t seem likely that will be happening anytime soon.

Posted in Current Events, Dress and Appearance, God's Word, Homosexuality, Sex, Sports, The Bible, Youth | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What Charles Blondin Has to Do with Salvation

Posted on February 1, 2021 by russellmckinney

…Even the demons believe — and tremble! (James 2:19, N.K.J.V.)

Charles Blondin, whose real name was Jean Francois Gravelet, was a French acrobat who became world renowned as a tightrope walker during the latter half of the 1800s. He began his career at the incredibly young age of five and first won fame in his home country of France and in other parts of Europe before coming to America in 1855. Four years later, on June 30, 1859, he walked a tightrope across Niagara Falls, a feat he would perform many more times during his career.

To keep the public’s interest piqued, Blondin frequently added new twists to his act. For example, he performed the trick blindfolded. He performed it on stilts. He performed it while pushing a wheelbarrow in front of him. Once, he paused at the midway point of the trick, sat down on the wire, and ate an omelet. Blondin’s exploits became so well known that Abraham Lincoln referenced the wheelbarrow version in his Presidential campaign in 1864. Lincoln said that he was “Blondin on the tightrope” in that he had all that was valuable to America in the wheelbarrow he was pushing that carried his political agenda.

More than once Blondin walked across the Falls while carrying his manager, Harry Colcord, on his back. At the conclusion of one of those trips, shortly after Blondin and Colcord had reached the other side safely, Blondin asked a man in the crowd of onlookers, “Do you believe I could do that with you?” The man answered, “Yes.” “Then hop on,” said Blondin, “and I’ll carry you across.” But to that the fellow replied, “Not on your life!”

You see, that onlooker had a general belief in Blondin’s ability to live up to his end of the offer, but he didn’t have the type of belief that would lead him to climb onto Blondin’s back. No, that would have required a whole other type of belief. That type of belief, needless to say, is much more rare.

Our text passage from the book of James shows us that there is a type of belief that isn’t saving belief. Whereas demons (fallen angels) have enough belief to know that God exists and that Jesus is God the Son (see also Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-17; and Luke 8:26-37), demons are still destined to spend eternity in the lake of fire (Matthew 25:41). And, unfortunately, literally billions of people will join them there throughout eternity despite the fact that many of these people not only believe in the existence of God but actually believe that Jesus was God in human flesh.

As for how someone who believes that Jesus was God in human flesh can be lost, that answer goes back to the story from the life of Charles Blondin. Just as that onlooker believing that Blondin could get him to the other side of Niagara Falls wasn’t enough to literally transport the onlooker to the other side, anyone who doesn’t have enough belief to go “all in” 100% for Jesus by figuratively climbing onto His back and letting Him transport that person to heaven will never get there. That’s why each of us should examine the supposed belief we claim to have in Jesus and make sure that it is saving belief rather than damning belief. Even a belief that gets you into church, causes you to pray, and leads you to read your Bible might not be the kind required for salvation. To sum up the matter, being impressed by Jesus and learning about His life and ministry is a good start, but it isn’t the same thing as climbing onto His back and trusting in Him and Him alone 100% for salvation.

Posted in Belief, Commitment, Faith, Grace, Salvation, Seeking Forgiveness, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment