A Father’s Sacrifice

Posted on December 5, 2020 by russellmckinney

A pastor stood in the pulpit and spoke of his love for his childhood friend. Afterward, an elderly gentleman stood up from the front pew and walked to the pulpit to speak. He told a story about a father, a son, and a friend of the son.

He said: “A father, his young son, and a young friend of the son were sailing just off the Pacific coastline when a freak storm caught them by surprise and prevented them from getting back to the shore. Scarcely any time passed before the fierce winds and the rising waves swept the sailboat far out into the ocean. The father, the son, and the friend worked hard to keep the boat upright and were able to do so, but there came a moment when the two boys were knocked off the boat and out into the mighty waves. Since the boat had only one rescue line, the father had a split-second decision to make. He could throw the line to his son or to the son’s friend. The father knew that his son was a Christian, and he also knew that his son’s friend wasn’t. With this knowledge in mind, he yelled, ‘I love you son!’ to his son and threw the rescue line to the son’s friend. The boy grabbed the line and the father pulled him back onto the boat. Once the boy was safe, the father looked to throw the line toward his son. Tragically, however, the son had disappeared beneath the waves. The boy’s body was never recovered.”

Then the elderly gentleman drove home the application of the story by saying, “That father knew that his son would step into eternity with Jesus. Therefore, he sacrificed his son. And in the same way, God the Father sacrificed His Son, Jesus, to save us.” With that, the old man returned to his seat on the front pew.

Even before the pastor could make it to the pulpit to close the service, a teenage boy who had been intently listening to the old man’s story blurted out, “What became of the boy who got saved from drowning? Did he ever become a Christian?” From the front pew, the old man answered, “Yes, he did. You see, I was the father in that story, and your pastor was my son’s friend.”

This Christmas season, as we celebrate Jesus being born to die for our sins, let’s also remember the heavenly Father who lovingly allowed His only Son to die for the entire human race. Even more than just remember Him, let’s also mourn with Him over the fact that the majority of the human race reject that Son and in so doing render the whole endeavor useless in regards to its intended purpose. All that rejection adds an even sadder element to the story, doesn’t it? Needless to say, I sincerely hope that its an element that doesn’t apply to you.

Posted in Children, Choices, Christ's Death, Evangelism, Fatherhood, God's Love, God's Provision, Grace, Parenting, Sacrifice, Salvation | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Small Entrances

Posted on December 3, 2020 by russellmckinney

A playground in Chicago was called “the tiny tot play lot.” Any child who wanted to enter it could only do so by way of a entrance that was very low and shaped like a keyhole. If the child could walk uprightly through the entrance, he or she was welcome. Any child who couldn’t was excluded.

This illustration reminds us of how Jesus, God the Son, entered the human race. Rather than leave heaven and come down to earth by way of a flaming chariot escorted by 10,000 angels, He came by way of becoming an embryo in the womb of a virgin girl from Nazareth. Let me offer some of the passages that serve as proof texts for this event, and I’ll use The New Living Translation for each of them just to give us a fresh take on them:

This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God…..So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. (John 1:1,14)

Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. (Philippians 2:6-8)

Can you imagine God condescending Himself to the lowly state of an embryo in the womb of a “nobody” teenage girl? And can you imagine Him doing this just so He could become part of a race that He would ultimately die for in payment for their sins? Friend, stupefying doesn’t even begin to do that story justice! No child who ever entered that playground in Chicago through that tiny keyhole entrance ever performed a feat as jaw-dropping as the one Jesus performed in entering the human race.

And yet there is still another application to this illustration, and this one applies not to Jesus but to each of us. Jesus Himself talks about in Luke 18:17 when He says, “I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it” (N.L.T.). Concerning this quote, Warren Wiersbe writes:

Jesus wants us to be childlike but not childish. An unspoiled child illustrates humility, faith, and dependence. A child has a sense of wonder that makes life exciting. The only way to enter God’s kingdom is to become like a child and be born again (John 3).

Similarly, Herschel H. Hobbs writes:

So often in seeking to determine if a child understands the plan of salvation, we treat him like an adult. We expect adult answers from childlike hearts. A child’s simple, “I love Jesus and want to live for Him,” may express a profounder Christian experience than reams of theological debate and explanation. Jesus said that we have the whole thing backward. Instead of expecting an adult experience in the child, we should strive to bring about a childlike experience in the adult.

You see, just as Jesus humbly became “small” enough — in His case, both figuratively and literally — to enter the kingdom of men, each of us must humbly become “small” enough to enter the kingdom of God. This means that you must first see yourself as a sinner who stands in need of forgiveness from holy God before you can truly understand your need for Jesus and appreciate His death on the cross in payment for all your sins. This is what Jesus meant when He said that one must receive the Kingdom of God like a child.

No matter how old you are, if you want to experience the forgiveness/pardon/salvation offered by placing saving belief in Jesus, you must lose your stature of self-righteousness, abandon your efforts at a works-based religion, and make yourself “small” enough to fit the keyhole of coming under conviction over your sins and realizing that Jesus is the only way that those sins can be made as white as snow in the eyes of God (Isaiah 1:18). As Jesus said of Himself in other passages, He is the “door” through which all who enter will be saved (John 10:9), and He is also the “way” through which all who want to come to God the Father must come (John 14:6). Summing all this up, Jesus has done His part to provide you with salvation. The only question left to be answered is: Have you done your part by becoming childlike enough to allow Him to save you?

Posted in Belief, Brokenness, Children, Christ's Birth, Christmas, Humility, Pride, Salvation, Submission | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A Word About Marriage

Posted on November 30, 2020 by russellmckinney

And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. (Genesis 2:23-24, N.K.J.V.)

And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Matthew 19:4-6, N.K.J.V.)

A few weeks ago, I preached a Sunday sermon on the topic of marriage. That sermon reminded me afresh and anew just how important the reality of “one flesh” is to a marriage. Actually, it is this reality that sets marriage apart from all other earthly relationships.

Some wiseguy has said, “A husband and a wife become one flesh in marriage and then go on the honeymoon to decide which one they’ll become.” While this joke does evoke a chuckle, the fact is that the “one flesh” created by a marriage isn’t 100% the husband’s flesh or 100% the wife’s flesh. It is, instead, an amalgamation of the two.

There are various illustrations that have been used to depict this amalgamation. A classic one has the husband and the wife each holding a candle and using those candles to light a third candle, a unity candle. That newly formed third flame, the one created from the two existing flames, serves as an object lesson for the “one flesh” of marriage.

As I said, this matter of the husband and the wife becoming “one flesh” is what sets marriage apart from all other earthly relationships. Becoming “one flesh” with your spouse means that your marital relationship is even more important than the relationship you have with your parents, your children, your other family members, or your friends. That’s why your marriage relationship should supersede all of your other relationships, with the only exception being your relationship to God.

The husband doesn’t become one flesh with his job or his hobby. The wife doesn’t become one flesh with her job or her home. The married athlete doesn’t become one flesh with his career. The married coach doesn’t become one flesh with the team. The married school-teacher doesn’t become one flesh with the class. The married pastor doesn’t become one flesh with the church. The married politician doesn’t become one flesh with the political office.

Because of this, when a spouse — and I mean any spouse — begins to realize that either something or someone is doing damage to the “one flesh” of his or her marriage, drastic measures should be employed to deal with the problem. Whatever it takes to fix the marriage must be done. I’m talking about throwing the proverbial kitchen sink at it if that’s what it takes. When fault lines begin to appear, any delay in repairing them will only make the problem worse.

How wonderful it would be if we could get every spouse around the world to understand that nothing he or she has going on in life is important enough to damage a marriage over. I dare say that arriving at such an understanding would virtually stamp out divorce completely. Not only would it create healthier marriages, the positive domino effect of those healthier marriages would flow out to every corner of life and create a far better world.

Alas, however, we’ll never reach this worldwide goal, will we? That’s just too big an accomplishment for Adam’s fallen race to achieve. This doesn’t mean, though, that you can’t achieve it in your own marriage. So, what are you waiting for? Roll up your sleeves and start mending those fault lines, and get your unity flame to burning brightly. Trust me, this dark world needs it desperately, and for that matter, so do you and your spouse.

Posted in Children, Divorce, Husbands, Marriage, Politics, Preaching, Priorities, Sports, Wives | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Gluttony

Posted on November 27, 2020 by russellmckinney

Our family feasted yesterday for our Thanksgiving meal. My wife, Tonya, is an excellent cook and she prepared her annual buffet: turkey, mashed potatoes, cream corn, dressing, macaroni and cheese, slaw, crescent rolls, pumpkin pie, cheese cake, etc. She also included a new meatballs-and-white-rice dish that was a nice change of pace. Not only did we feast for lunch yesterday, we also feasted on leftovers for supper last night and again for lunch today. Oh, and did I mention that we feasted Wednesday night at the home of Tonya’s mom, Jessie? There we had turkey, ham, and all other sorts of holiday fare. As you might imagine, I’ll probably be using a different hole on my belt this Sunday, and it won’t be a hole for a skinnier preacher.

But do I need to repent of the sin of gluttony? Absolutely not! You see, there is a big difference between enjoying a time of feasting and being a glutton. Consider these fifteen Biblical examples of appropriate feasting:

  • Lot prepared a feast for the two angels who came to him in Sodom. (Genesis 19:1-3)
  • Abraham and Sarah celebrated with a feast the day Isaac was weaned. (Genesis 21:8)
  • Isaac and Abimelech feasted the day they entered into a covenant with each other. (Genesis 26:26-30)
  • Laban held a feast the day Jacob was supposed to marry Rachel. (Genesis 29:20-22)
  • Pharaoh held a feast in honor of his birthday. (Genesis 40:20)
  • Samson held a seven-day feast to celebrate his engagement to a Philistine woman. (Judges 14:10)
  • David held a feast for Abner and Abner’s men. (2 Samuel 3:20)
  • Solomon held a feast for all his servants after he had a dream in which God appeared to him. (1 Kings 3:15)
  • Solomon held a seven-day feast to celebrate the completion of the building of the temple. (2 Chronicles 7:1-10)
  • Job’s ten children feasted. (Job 1:4-5)
  • Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to a wedding feast a king held for his son. (Matthew 22:1-14)
  • The father in the story of the prodigal son held a feast (“kill the fatted calf”) to celebrate the return of his wayward son. (Luke 15:11-32)
  • Jesus performed His first miracle (the changing of the water into wine) at a weeklong wedding feast in Cana of Galilee (John 2:1-11)
  • The fellowship meal the early Christians held each Sunday in conjunction with their observance of The Lord’s Supper was known as “the love feast.” (1 Corinthians 11:17-34; Jude 1:12)
  • The Marriage Supper of the Lamb that Christians will one day enjoy with Christ will be a time of feasting. (Revelation 19:9)

All this is to say nothing, of course, of the seven so-called “feasts” that were required by the Mosaic law. Those were: The Feast of Passover (Exodus 12:1-14), The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exodus 12:15-20), The Feast of Firstfruits (Leviticus 23:9-14), The Feast of Pentecost (Harvest/Weeks) (Deuteronomy 16:9-12), The Feast of Trumpets (Numbers 29:1-6), The Feast of the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:26-32), and the Feast of Tabernacles (Booths/Ingathering) (Nehemiah 8:13-18). Since the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread was held right on the heels of the one-night Feast of Passover, those two Feasts became so intertwined as to be celebrated as one eight-day-long event in Israel. Over the course of those eight days the Passover lamb was killed and eaten and all leaven (yeast) was removed from every home in Israel.

While it’s true that not all of these seven annual Feasts involved an actual meal, some did and this evidences the fact that God understands times of celebration, joy, and (yes) EATING. Someone might say, “But that was just for the Old Testament era. We Christians today don’t live under that law.” No, we don’t, but that’s why I took the time to list those fifteen non-law examples, five of them from the New Testament, wherein feasting is not only allowed but even prescribed during appropriate times.

Okay, so what then do we do about the Bible’s condemnation of gluttony? Well, let’s talk about that. The word “glutton” is found only twice in the Old Testament, and in both instances the Hebrew word translated as “glutton” is zalal. That’s a word that literally means “to shake” as in to physically shake during an earthquake or the blowing of the wind. Figuratively speaking, zalal refers to being loose (shaky) morally.

One use of zalal comes in Deuteronomy 21:18-21, a passage that was a part of the Mosaic law. In that passage, the parents of a stubborn, rebellious son, who would not obey them even after they had chastened him, were commanded to forcefully bring the son to Israel’s elders, The parents were to say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard” (N.K.J.V.). Consequently, the son would be stoned to death by the men of the city.

Even a casual reading of the passage will show that the son’s sin wasn’t feasting. Instead, the sin involved stubbornness, rebelliousness, and disobedience. All of this describes nothing less than a fixed lifestyle of ungodliness. Any sinful overeating that might have been associated with that lifestyle was merely an outer symptom of a far more serious inner attitude. Clearly, the son’s problems involved his heart much more than his stomach, and the phrase “he is a glutton and a drunkard” serves as something of a general catch-all to describe an unholy, worthless person who has nothing for God and nothing for people.

The Old Testament’s second use of zalal is found in Proverbs 23:21, which says: “For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags” (N.K.J.V.). Here again we find that the person’s problem is much more than simply having two pieces of pie instead of one. This time drowsiness (and by implication laziness) is added to the depiction of the drunkard/glutton, and the overall worthlessness of the person ultimately brings him to poverty.

Turning to the New Testament, the Hebrew word for word “glutton” is phagos, which comes from phago, which means “to eat.” This word phagos is used in both Matthew 11:16-19 and Luke 7:31-35, two versions of the same story from Christ’s earthly life. In that story, Jesus says the Jewish religious leaders called him “a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (N.I.V.). You’ll note that it’s the same pattern from the Old Testament except this time the drunkard/glutton is also spoken of as enjoying the company of disreputable friends.

What I’m showing you in all of this is that the Bible’s use of the word “glutton” is always linked up with an assortment of other bad behavior. The person being an overeater — and surely Jesus wasn’t an overeater any more than He was a drunkard — isn’t the issue. The issue is the person’s stubbornness, rebelliousness, disobedience, laziness, and penchant for the company of others like him. Therefore, according to the Bible’s definition of “glutton,” the submitted, committed, discerning Christian can’t be one. Oh, sure, the Christian might overeat on occasion, but times of feasting such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays, weddings, church fellowship meals, etc. can’t even be counted among such times.

Of course, this doesn’t give the Christian a free pass to become a fatso. Remember, Christian, your body really is a temple because God the Holy Spirit dwells inside you. Also, even Paul admits that there is some profit in bodily exercise (1 Timothy 4:8) and warns against those “whose god is their belly” (Philippians 3:17-19). My point is simply that you shouldn’t allow anyone, including you, to create a false guilt in you anytime the Lord blesses you with the opportunity to do some God-approved feasting. Just ask Him to let you know whenever you are crossing the line into sin by eating too much, and then listen for His still, small voice as He does so.

Posted in Christmas, Christmas Traditions, Dieting, Gluttony, Personal Holiness, Prosperity, Thanksgiving, The Old Testament Law | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Knowing Jesus & Being Thankful Should Go Hand in Hand

Posted on November 25, 2020 by russellmckinney

Tony Evans tells the story of two little sisters who were misbehaving badly on Thanksgiving Day. The situation finally reached a point where their father said, “Girls, go to your room. You are not going to be allowed to sit at the table for Thanksgiving dinner.” The girls complied, and spent the new few minutes sitting dejected in their room.

Then, quite unexpectedly, they heard their mother call them to the table for the Thanksgiving meal. They didn’t understand how mommy could overrule daddy, but their lack of understanding didn’t stop them from cautiously making their way from their bedroom to the dining room. When they got there they immediately noticed that someone was missing from the scene. Daddy wasn’t there.

Now the girls were really confused and asked their mother, “Where’s daddy?” She answered, “Daddy went to his room. He did that because he loves you so much that he wanted you to be able to have Thanksgiving dinner. Since he couldn’t change his standard about the punishment that you deserved, he decided that he himself would pay the penalty that you owed. So, while you enjoy this meal, remember that your daddy has paid your penalty so that you could have it.”

The application of the story isn’t hard to spot, is it? It certainly shouldn’t be if you are a Christian. As Tony Evans puts it, “Bothers and sisters, when you forget to say thanks for everything else, don’t forget to say thanks for Jesus.”

The apostle Paul gets into this same subject area when he writes in Colossians 2:6-7:

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. (N.K.J.V., emphasis mine)

Later on in that same book (letter/epistle), as if he can’t stay away from the subject, Paul hits on this idea again in Colossians 3:15-17 when he writes:

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. (N.K.J.V., emphasis mine)

Can you see how in Paul’s mind thankfulness and Jesus became seamlessly woven together? In one way of looking at things, Paul couldn’t imagine not being thankful in light of what Jesus had done for him. But in another way of looking at things, he also understood that everything he did, even him giving thanks, was done through Jesus and in the name of Jesus. In other words, Paul would tell us Christians that Jesus is not only the motivation for our thanksgiving but also the means through which we give it.

This Thanksgiving, in the midst of all our talk about being thankful for family, friends, health, money, food, clothing, and other material blessings, let us be sure to say, “Thank You” to Jesus. Christian, your family and friends didn’t die on the cross in payment for your sins. No, Jesus did that. Going back to the Tony Evans illustration, He took your punishment so that you might enjoy the meal.

And, of course, as Paul reminds us in those passages from Colossians, Jesus paying that ultimate price for us demands that we devote our lives to Him in appreciation. As Paul says of Him, we should walk in Him, be rooted in Him, be built up in Him, be established in our faith in Him, abound in our faith in Him with thanksgiving, let His word dwell richly within us, sing in our hearts to Him, do everything that we do in His name, and give thanks to God the Father through Him. Obviously, if all that sounds like complete and total commitment, you are reading it correctly. This then is how the Christian should live each Thanksgiving Day, and this then is how the Christian should live all the other days of the year.

Posted in Children, Christ's Death, Commitment, Discipleship, Family, Fatherhood, God's Love, Grace, Salvation, Thankfulness, Thanksgiving | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Offenses Must Come

Posted on November 23, 2020 by russellmckinney

“Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!” (Matthew 18:7, N.K.J.V.)

The Greek word translated as “offenses” in this verse is skandalon, and it’s a word that refers to stumbling blocks. Anything that tempts/causes a Christian to sin can be labeled as this type of stumbling block. Therefore, the teaching is that as long as we Christians live in this fallen world, we will inevitably have to overcome stumbling blocks that are designed to trip us up spiritually and get us to sin. Since the English word “scandal” derives from skandalon, we are right to say that these stumbling blocks (these temptations, these inducements to sin) can be bad enough and public enough to result in the Christian being scandalized by their outcome.

Jesus says of anyone who places these spiritual stumbling blocks in the paths of those who believe in Him, “…woe to that man by whom the offense comes!” While that is certainly an ominous warning sent out to anyone who hinders a Christian’s walk with the Lord, it’s not the part of Christ’s quote that I want to hone in on for this post. Instead, I want to draw your attention to those words, “For offenses (stumbling blocks) must come.” My question is, “Why must they come?”

First, spiritual stumbling blocks must come because of Satan and his fellow fallen angels. Spiritual warfare is real, Christian, and there isn’t a fallen angel out there anywhere that wouldn’t love to see you get tripped up and scandalized by some sin. As Ephesians 6:12 says to Christians: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (N.I.V.). Likewise, 1 Peter 5:8-9 describes Satan as ravenous, roaring lion who must be resisted. In 2 Corinthians 11:3, the apostle Paul even expresses his open concern that Satan had already corrupted the minds of the Christians of Corinth.

Second, spiritual stumbling blocks must come because of all the people who do Satan’s bidding. In 2 Corinthians 4:4, we learn that Satan (i.e. “the god of this age”) has blinded the minds of unbelievers. Jesus took this idea even further when He said to a group of lost religious leaders, “You are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does” (John 8:44, N.L.T.). You’d better realize, Christian, that some of those things involve those children of the devil placing spiritual stumbling blocks in your path.

Third, spiritual stumbling blocks must come because of our own sinful nature. Putting it simply, the Christian’s own inborn Adamic nature of sin, which the Bible refers to as “the flesh,” makes him or her a prime candidate to trip over a stumbling block that has been placed in the path either by Satan, some other fallen angel, or a lost unbeliever. Even though the Christian has God the Holy Spirit dwelling inside his or her body, the indwelling Spirit doesn’t obliterate the Adamic nature (the flesh). Instead, an inner civil war is created between the two. Galatians 5:17 says of this war: “For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want” (N.A.S.V.).

In closing, Christian, let me leave you with a couple of takeaway applications. Application #1 is: Don’t ever join the ranks of the enemy in placing some stumbling block in the path of a fellow believer. Remember, your job is to help your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ run well spiritually, not place obstacles and landmines in their running lanes.

And then Application #2 is: Start recognizing the stumbling blocks you’ve been tripping over for years and start avoiding them. Imagine a runner who lap after lap comes upon a certain chuckhole in the track and steps into it and stumbles every single time. It wouldn’t make any sense for a runner to do that, would it? Well, before you judge our hypothetical runner too harshly, you might want to examine your own life and see if there is a certain chuckhole that has caused you to spiritually stumble time and time again. The truth is that most of us have one and we don’t always do a good job of avoiding it.

Posted in Adversity, Depravity, Faithfulness, God's Work, Ministry, Problems, Service, Sin, Spiritual Warfare, Temptation, The Devil, Trials | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

God is Watching. But That Doesn’t Have to Be a Bad Thing.

Posted on November 20, 2020 by russellmckinney

One day some kids were assembled for lunch in the cafeteria of a Christian school. On one table, at the end of the food line, sat a big bucket filled with apples. Taped to the bucket was a staff-written note that read: “Take only one. God is watching.” Just past that table, however, there was another table. This one held a plate of cookies. Beside that plate, on a card that had been placed there by a prankster student, was a note that read: “Take all you want. God is watching the apples.”

Does God really see everything that everybody does all the time all over the world? Yes, He does. That’s one of the advantages of being a Spirit who isn’t confined to a body that has to always be in one place at a time. If we think about it, though, God seeing everything all the time doesn’t have to be a bad thing. To the contrary, it can actually be a good thing.

In 2 Chronicles 16:1-14, we find the story of Asa, the king of Israel’s southern kingdom. Baasha, the king of Israel’s northern kingdom, set himself against Asa by beginning construction on a fortress that would stand at Ramah on the boundary line between the two kingdoms. Once Asa realized what Baasha was doing, Asa should have cried out to God and asked Him to intervene in the situation. Rather than seek God’s help, though, Asa sent gold and silver to Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, in an attempt to create an alliance against Baasha. The bribe worked, and Ben-Hadad sent Syrian forces that struck against several of the cities of Baasha’s kingdom and stopped the building project at Ramah.

In the aftermath of the Syrian victories against his rival Baasha, Asa was riding high until a man of God named Hanani came to see him. Hanani was a seer/prophet, and he delivered a devastating rebuke to Asa for trusting in the Syrians rather than in God for help. As part of that rebuke, Hanani said:

“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.” (2 Chronicles 16:9, N.K.J.V.)

And how did Asa respond to that rebuke? He threw Hanani into prison. Welcome to the ministry! What Asa couldn’t imprison, though, was the word that God had delivered through Hanani. That meant that the remaining years of Asa’s reign would be plagued by trouble. In particular, three years later he was struck with a severe disease in his feet (2 Chronicles 16:12). Sadly, as evidence that he still hadn’t learned his lesson about trusting in God rather than in outside sources, he called in his physicians rather than praying to God. Two years later he was dead (2 Chronicles 16:13). One theory is that he died from gangrene complications in his feet.

But let’s not focus on the negative part of Hanani’s word to Asa. Instead, let’s focus on the positive part. That’s the part that says God’s eyes are constantly scouring the earth in search of people whose hearts are loyal to Him, and whenever He finds such a heart, He shows Himself strong on that person’s behalf. Do you know who that is good news for? You guessed it, the person whose heart is loyal to God.

So, tell me, does this description fit you? If it does, then you have a legitimate right to expect God to show Himself strong on your behalf. We’re not talking about mere wishful thinking here. No, we’re talking about a Bible promise! I don’t know how this promise will manifest itself in your life, but I do know that you’ll definitely be helped by it. After all, God showing Himself STRONG on your behalf has to make some blessed differences. Remember, though, that those differences only come to those who trust in the Lord rather than in other sources.

Posted in Adversity, Encouragement, Faithfulness, God's Omnipresence, God's Omniscience, God's Work, Needs, Perseverance, Prayer, Prayer Requests, Problems, Trials, Trusting In God, Worry | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Chimpanzee Christians

Posted on November 18, 2020 by russellmckinney

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3, N.K.J.V.)

Not everyone who carries the name “Christian” carries the name legitimately. While reports of how many professing “Christians” there are in the world consistently put the number at over 2 billion, that astoundingly high number cuts directly against two important facts. Fact #1: If there were truly 2 billion Christians in the world, the world wouldn’t be nearly as spiritually, morally, and ethically bankrupt as it is now. And fact #2: Jesus said the gate that leads to life (eternal life, spiritual life, salvation) is narrow, and there are few who find it (Matthew 7:14).

Take my country, America, for example. Since abortion became legal here in 1973, we have aborted over 60 million babies in the wombs. Of course, those are just the deaths that have been reported. With abortion oftentimes being a cash transaction, who could even begin to say how many babies have been killed “off the books”? This all happens in a country, mind you, that is supposedly a “Christian” nation, where virtually all of our Presidents and well over 90% of our Congressman since the birth of our nation have claimed to be Christians. Furthermore, the Supreme Court of our land, which was the Court that made abortion legal, has consistently been stocked since its inception with judges whose religious affiliation was listed as “Christian.” Obviously, something doesn’t add up in all this.

With so many people talking about love these days, let me share with you a simplistic thought about what real love looks like. In Romans 13:8-10, the apostle Paul, writing under the inspiration of God, points out that the saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” by its very definition incorporates the commandment “You shall not murder.” That makes perfect sense to me. Does it to you? I mean, if we are going to talk about all the unloved in America, shouldn’t we start with the more than 60 million babies who never got the chance to draw their first breath before their hearts were purposely stopped? I guess their problem was, they weren’t consider to be anybody’s “neighbors,” right? Seriously, if all the professing “Christians” in America can’t even get in line with God’s thinking on abortion, how can we possibly hope to get in line with His thinking on anything else?

You see, the real problem, the source problem from which our other problems flow, is this: The number of authentically born-again Christians in America is profoundly lower than the number of professing Christians. Sure, we’ve got purportedly “Christian” people running around all over the place, but that’s not the same thing as having saved people running around all over the place. It’s not. It’s just not.

As for the demographics on these fake Christians — and in most cases these people are honestly deluded themselves as to their actual standing with God — we’re talking about people who are White, Black, Hispanic, Latino, Native American, Asian American, and any other ethnicity that could be put on the list. They are registered Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. They are rich, poor, and middle class. They are old, young, and middle-aged. They are conservative and liberal. Actually, the only thing they have in common is the fact that they are all religiously lost.

Harry Ironside, who was one of the greatest preachers America ever produced, spoke of such people in his book, Changed By Beholding. Ingeniously, he illustrated the situation by comparing a chimpanzee to a human. His illustration is so perfect that I wouldn’t even begin to try to add anything to it. So, I’ll just offer it as the close to this post. Ironside wrote:

“A great many people make the mistake of trying to live the life before they receive the life. The hardest thing I know is to try to live the Christian life when you do not have it to live. There must be a Christian life first before you can exemplify and manifest it.

To try to live a Christian life when you have never been born again is just as hopeless as for a chimpanzee to try and live a human life. I have seen some chimpanzees that could copy things people do in a remarkable way. At a zoo in Philadelphia, they once said to me, ‘Come along and see a couple of your ancestors.’ I went along; there were two trained chimpanzees who had learned to mimic human beings to a remarkable degree. They wore clothes, sat at a table, ate, and drank, and in a clumsy way handled a knife and fork. When they got all through, they settled back and put cigarettes in their mouths, and a keeper lit them, and they looked to me exactly like a lot of our own people do when smoking cigarettes…

But although those chimps could do all those things, they did not know anything about real human life. They did not know anything of the principles controlling men and women. They were simply imitators. Many people imitate Christians and try to behave like them. They do not know anything of the power of the Christian life. They have never been born again. ‘Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God’ (John 3:3).”

Posted in Abortion, Discernment, Government, Leadership, Politics, Salvation | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

When Corruption Puts on Incorruption

Posted on November 16, 2020 by russellmckinney

Tom Wallace, the well known Independent Baptist pastor/evangelist, is now 90 years old. Five years ago, when he was a mere 85, he published Morning Devotions. For the September 25th devotion, he wrote a little piece entitled “This Stuff Has Got To Stop.” Let me share it with you:

Have you noticed stairs are getting steeper? Groceries are heavier. And, everything is farther away. I am dumbfounded to discover how long our street has become!

People are less considerate now. They speak in whispers all the time! I also think they are much younger than I was at the same age.

On the other hand, people my own age are so much older than I am. I ran into an old friend the other day and she has aged so much that she didn’t even recognize me. I glanced at my own reflection in the mirror this morning. Well, REALLY NOW — even mirrors are not made the way they used to be!

Another thing, everyone drives so fast these days! You’re risking life and limb if you happen to pull onto the freeway in front of them. All I can say is, their brakes must wear out awfully fast.

Clothing manufacturers are less civilized these days. Why else would they suddenly start labeling a size 10 or 12 as 18 or 20? Do they think no one notices these things no longer fit around the waist, hips, and thighs?

The people who make bathroom scales are pulling the same prank, but in reverse. Do they think I actually “believe” the number I see on that dial? HA! I would never let myself weigh that much! I’d like to call up someone in authority to report what’s going on — but the telephone company is in on the conspiracy too: they’ve printed the phone books in such small type that no one could ever find a number in there!

We are under attack! Unless something drastic happens, pretty soon everyone will have to suffer these awful indignities.

I’m 54 years old myself now and can already attest to the accuracy of Tom Wallace’s observations. That’s why I, as a Christian, am looking forward to that future moment when this decaying body of mine will be metamorphosized into a glorious new one fit for eternity. This split second in time has popularly come to be called “The Rapture.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 says of this event:

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 will 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. Therefore comfort one another with these words. (N.K.J.V.)

These verses tell me that if I have physically died before the Rapture takes place, my body’s metamorphism will coincide with a resurrection. On the other hand, if I am still alive on this earth at that point, this metamorphism won’t require a resurrection. Either way, though, the metamorphism is going to take place.

How can we be so sure? It’s because, as the apostle Paul so eloquently points out in 1 Corinthians 15:50-53, a body of flesh, blood, and corruption simply cannot inherit the kingdom of God. He writes:

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed — in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. (N.K.J.V.)

The apostle John also wrote about The Rapture. In 1 John 3:2, he described it this way:

Beloved, now we are the children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. (N.K.J.V.)

Think about that, Christian. It hasn’t yet been revealed what we shall be. No, our true unveiling won’t occur until that moment when Jesus is revealed and we become like Him. And what does “like Him” mean? Well, it certainly doesn’t mean that we will become divine like Him. What it must mean, then, is that we will receive glorified bodies on par with the one He received when He arose from the dead. Every Christian should be looking forward to this moment, but until it happens we are left to become all too familiar with the accuracy of Tom Wallace’s all-too-real devotion.

Posted in Aging, Christ's Return, Elderly, Eternity, Heaven, Human Life, Personal, Prophecy, Resurrection, Reward | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Does Praising God for Past Deliverances Build Our Faith for Future Ones?

Posted on November 13, 2020 by russellmckinney

(“Questions From Israel’s Exodus” series: post #12, last one)

As God brought the walled-up waters of the Red Sea back together to drown the Egyptian army, He also slammed the door shut on the Israelites ever returning to Egypt. Their departure from their enslavement was now complete, and a new day had dawned for their nation. So, if the Israelites were ever going to sing God’s praises, now was the time to do it.

Fortunately, as we might expect from a group of people who had just witnessed a jaw-dropping miracle that saved them, the Israelites were in a praising mood. Exodus 15:1-19 gives us the record of how Moses served as the worship leader for the praise service, and Exodus 15:20-21 gives us the record of how his sister Miriam led the women in an echo time of praise. Exodus 15:1 says of this praise service: “Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord…”

Moses wrote the words for the song (surely with some divine inspiration) very shortly after the Red Sea event. As for the echo time of praise led by Miriam and conducted by all the Israelite women, it involved Miriam singing alone and playing the timbrel while the rest of the women played timbrels and danced. Since the opening words of the Miriam song are virtually identical to the opening words of the Moses song — “Sing to the Lord, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!” — it is reasonable to assume that Miriam repeated the entirety of the Moses song even though scripture only mentions her singing the song’s opening section.

Despite the fact that God had struck Egypt with ten awesome plagues as part of Israel’s exodus, Moses’ song of praise fixates on the parting of the Red Sea and doesn’t even mention any of the plagues. He sings lines such as (all from the N.K.J.V.):

  • “Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea.” (v.4)
  • “The depths have covered them; They sank to the bottom like a stone.” (v.5)
  • “And with the blast of Your nostrils The waters were gathered together; The floods stood upright like a heap; The depths congealed in the heart of the sea.” (v.8)
  • “You blew with Your wind. The sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.” (v.10)

It seems that the miracle at the Red Sea stirred something deep inside the Israelites, something none of the plagues had stirred. The Israelites had heard about the deaths of Egypt’s firstborns as part of the tenth plague, but those deaths hadn’t inspired them nearly as much as them watching those waters of the Red Sea roll over Egypt’s soldiers, chariots, and horses. Perhaps it was the intensely visual aspect of that particular miracle, or perhaps it was just simply the “end game” finality of it, but something about that miracle evoked a time of national praise from the people.

It should be noted, however, that Moses’ song of praise didn’t just look back to God drowning the Egyptians in the Red Sea. It also looked ahead to what God was going to do to the races whom Israel would defeat in conquering the promised land of Canaan. Moses sung:

“The people will hear and be afraid; Sorrow will take hold of the inhabitants of Philistia. Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed; The mighty men of Moab, Trembling will take hold of them; All the inhabitants of Canaan will melt away. Fear and dread will fall on them; By the greatness of Your arm They will be as still as a stone, Till Your people pass over, O Lord, Till the people pass over Whom You have purchased. You will bring them in and plant them In the mountain of Your inheritance, In the place, O Lord, which You have made For your own dwelling, The sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established. The Lord shall reign forever and ever.” (Exodus 15:14-18, N.K.J.V.)

Moses looking to the future in this way teaches us an incredibly important lesson about praise. That lesson is: Singing God’s praises for what He has done for us in the past gives us confidence in what He is going to do for us in the future. You see, in Moses’ way of looking at things, it was inconceivable that the God who had just drowned Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea wouldn’t be able to also defeat the armies of Philistia, Edom, Moab, and any of the other races the Israelites might encounter as part of claiming Canaan. That’s why he scarcely takes the time to mention these future wars — it is as if their outcomes are foregone conclusions — before he starts talking about God planting the Israelites in the land. Again, this is the effect true praise has. It builds within us faith in God’s future accomplishments by using the foundation of His past accomplishments.

It is with this in mind that I want to ask you to do something. As we come to the close of this series, please make a concerted effort to think back upon all the times that God has delivered you in the past. Whatever the deliverance was, if it marked you enough to still be quick to come to your mind, pause to consider it yet again. Then, once you have that memory in place, take the time to thank God for that deliverance. You say, “But Russell, He’s delivered me so many times, thanking Him that way would take hours.” Great! I assure you those hours will be ones well spent. And what you’ll find when you come out of all your praising is that your faith in the future will be reenergized. As a matter of fact, you will be able to look to the future with not only optimism but also EXPECTANCY. Like Moses and those Israelites, you’ll be able to see your Canaan in the waters of your Red Sea, but the lens you’ll have to look through is the lens of praise.

Posted in Music, Praise, Series: "Questions From Israel's Exodus", Thankfulness, Worship | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment