How I Know That God Exists

Posted on May 23, 2020 by russellmckinney

People who aren’t Christians have real trouble understanding how Christians can exhibit such an unshakable belief in the existence of God. Christians, in turn, usually point to the incredible vastness, order, and intricacy of creation as the best evidence for God’s existence. This, admittedly, is the Bible’s prescribed way to prove His existence (Romans 1:20).

As for me personally, though, I find that another piece of evidence provides me with even more convincing evidence that God exists. I’m talking about the presence of God the Holy Spirit dwelling within me. You see, I know through daily experience that there is a voice other than my own inside my body. This voice tells me what blog posts to write. It tells me what sermons to preach. It tells me where to send my kids to school. It tells me what cars to buy. It tells me what Christmas presents to buy for my family. It tells me what home-improvement projects to do. In short, this voice guides my life.

Lest you think I’m crazy, let me point out that what I’m describing is nothing less than normal New Testament Christianity. Jesus said that anyone who isn’t born of the Spirit cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:1-8). Paul said that the Spirit Himself bears witness with the Christian’s own inner spirit to assure that Christian that he or she truly is a child of God (Romans 8:16). Furthermore, Paul also said that if the Spirit of God doesn’t dwell inside a person, that person has no relationship with Jesus (Romans 8:9). John said that Jesus abides within the Christian by way of the Spirit, whom Jesus has given to each Christian (1 John 3:24), and Jude bluntly described lost unbelievers as people who don’t have the Spirit (Jude v.19).

It was the Holy Spirit inside Philip who told him to run and meet the chariot that was carrying the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:29). It was the Holy Spirit inside Peter who told him that three men were coming to see him and that he should go with them and do as they asked (Acts 10:19-20; 11:12). It was the Holy Spirit inside each of the prophets and teachers at Antioch who told those men to separate Saul (Paul) and Barnabas from their group and send them out to do the work the Spirit was calling those two men to do (Acts 13:2). It was the Holy Spirit inside not only Paul but also Silas and Timothy who wouldn’t permit those three men to go to either the Roman province of Asia (Acts 16:6) or the region of Bithynia (Acts 16:7).

Each of these passages shows us that the Holy Spirit is a person, not an “it.” He is a full-fledged member of the holy Trinity that is God. Why is it that so many people think of God the Father and God the Son (Jesus) in terms of personhood but don’t attribute that same status to God the Holy Spirit? If you want to know just how much a person the Holy Spirit is, consider these Bible facts:

  • He speaks. (Acts 13:2)
  • He is a teacher. (John 14:26; Luke 12:12; 1 Corinthians 2:13)
  • He is a guide. (John 16:13)
  • He serves as a witness to events. (Acts 5:32)
  • He can be resisted. (Acts 7:51)
  • He can be grieved. (Ephesians 4:30)
  • He (His voice, His influence) can be quenched. (1 Thessalonians 5:19)
  • He can be lied to. (Acts 5:3)
  • He provides comfort. (Acts 9:31)
  • He directs ministries. (Acts 13:4)
  • He grants spiritual giftings (abilities for service). (1 Corinthians 12:4-11)
  • He considers certain things good. (Acts 15:28)
  • He forbids certain plans. (Acts 16:6-7)
  • He empowers. (Romans 15:13)
  • He inspires (moves to action). (2 Peter 1:21)

Sadly, anyone who has never heard the voice of the indwelling Holy Spirit simply cannot appreciate the reality of the experience. That’s why this valuable piece of evidence for the existence of God doesn’t register with them. Summing up the situation, appreciating the voice of the indwelling Holy Spirit is an “insider’s privilege” that is only available to the members of the club of born-again Christians. But once you’ve heard that voice — especially when the Spirit instructs you to do something that you would never have imagined yourself doing — it’s impossible for you to ever again truthfully deny the existence of God. You just know that He exists. You don’t know it because of mountains, oceans, deserts, stars, planets, solar systems, and universes; you know it because there’s someone living inside you that you genuinely can’t explain away or deny.

Posted in Atheism, Creation, Personal, Spiritual Gifts, The Holy Spirit | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Entertainment In This Modern Age

Posted on May 21, 2020 by russellmckinney

“I have the right to do anything,” you say — but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything” — but not everything is constructive. (1 Corinthians 10:23, N.I.V.)

A Christian woman once gave the great preacher F.B. Meyer a novel. The book was one of the best-sellers of the day and was creating a lot of buzz. As the woman handed it to Meyer, she assured him that he would enjoy it immensely.

As busy as Meyer was, he didn’t have a lot of free time to read fiction, but he took the book along one day as he boarded a ship. Once he was settled, he made his way up to the ship’s deck, found himself a deck chair, and settled in to read the novel. But he only got about fifty pages into the book before he threw it into the depths of the ocean. Why did he do that? He said of the book, “I thought it would injure the fish less than me.”

The difference between that Christian woman and F.B. Meyer was that Meyer’s spiritual sensitivities were a great deal more heightened than her’s were. What didn’t bother her, bothered him. What she saw as harmless fiction, he saw as beguiling temptation. What she considered entertainment, he considered filth.

I can only imagine the horror that F.B. Meyer would feel today if he saw what now passes for entertainment. We have all become so desensitized to sin’s creeping corruption in our entertainment, haven’t we? If we enjoy a movie, we make excuses for its profanity. If we enjoy a television show, we downplay the murders it depicts. If we enjoy a novel, we gloss over the illicit sex that marks its storyline.

I was born in 1966, and that makes me a product of the 1970s and 1980s. To say that I know all about the music, the movies, and the television shows of that era is an understatement. Sometime back I was skimming through the channels offered by my Dish Network satellite package and happened upon one of my favorite movies from the 1980s. It was one that I had watched many times back in the days when my movie experiences equated to video stores, movie rentals, and my home VCR. This time, however, as I watched the unedited version of that movie for the first time in decades, I was absolutely shocked at how much profanity the movie featured. It was so bad that, after a while, I actually turned the channel. I guess that was me having something of an F.B. Meyer moment.

But why had I paid so little attention to all of that profanity when I had watched that movie multiple times in the 1980s? It was because back then my spiritual sensitivity wasn’t as heightened as it is now. Whereas I was an oblivious teenager back then, I now have on my resume over 30 years of at least trying to seriously walk with the Lord. I’ll be the first to admit that I have tripped up in that walk more times than I care to remember, but that doesn’t mean that an honest effort hasn’t been made. That certainly wasn’t the case back in the 1980s.

Look, I’m not saying that even now I don’t come up short in regards to the movies and television shows that I watch. (I never did read novels.) I have to say, though, that the older I get the less I seem to enjoy what I’m watching. For example, last year two new series debuted on cable programming, and each was a series that looked appealing to me. So, I set my satellite system’s DVR to record all the new episodes of both series. But something dawned on me toward the end of both of those shows’ first seasons. I realized that I was no longer enjoying either series. Rather than being entertained by them, I found myself watching them out of sheer habit. Accordingly, once each season was finished and I took some time to reflect on the situation, I gave up on each series and deleted both timers.

What bothered me about one of the series was its sex, violence, killing, and profanity. What bothered me about the other one was its depressing circumstances and killing. I guess that I shouldn’t have expected any better. After all, such material seems to be about all the entertainment industry has to offer these days. Maybe it’s not that the industry has changed but that I have changed. That’s what I’d like to believe, anyway.

1 Corinthians 10:23 is found within the context of one of the apostle Paul’s classic teachings on the topic of Christian liberty. In that verse, he explains that just because the Christian has been set free from the restrictions of the Old Testament law and has a liberty to engage in certain activities that don’t violate God’s moral law, that doesn’t mean the Christian should engage in those activities. As Paul puts it, many things that are allowable under the heading “Christian liberty” simply aren’t constructive (edifying, helpful) for the Christian life. I think this verse can be correctly applied to a whole lot of what passes for entertainment in our lives. It’s not that we are in rank sin sitting there watching that stuff or reading it, but can we truthfully say that what we are watching or reading is beneficial to our walk with the Lord? The answer is, no.

In another passage, Philippians 4:8, Paul tells us to think on (meditate on) things that are noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy. While the people of the Old Testament era didn’t have the assortment of entertainment devices that we have today, David still voiced a worthy goal when he said in Psalm 101:3, “I will set nothing wicked before my eyes.” That’s a goal that we would all do well to pursue.

Of course, these days we don’t have to try very hard to set something wicked before our eyes, do we? Never before has the human race had more immediate access to depictions of wickedness and sin. Still, in the midst of it all, most of us aren’t quite ready to throw our t.v.s, computers, and smart phones over a ship’s railing. So, what should we do?

Well, I hope you will agree with me that we can all stand to be more discerning about what forms of entertainment we allow into our lives. Remember, just because we can watch it, read it, or listen to it, that doesn’t mean that the experience will be beneficial to our spiritual health. All I know is that God does seem to be burdening me these days to make some changes in what I employ as entertainment. Hopefully, I’ll have the discernment and the obedience to makes the changes He wants me to make, but I guess the jury will be out for a while on that. For that matter, seeing as how the world of entertainment is constantly evolving — or should I say devolving? — I guess that jury will be out for the rest of my life as the learning curve keeps changing. Suffice is to say that in the end, if what doesn’t bother me now bothers me in another thirty years, I’ll be able to say that I at least made a bit of spiritual progress.

Posted in Choices, Christian Liberty, Discernment, Discipleship, Entertainment, Music, Personal, Personal Holiness, Sanctification, Separation | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

God’s Four Answers to Prayer Requests

Posted on May 18, 2020 by russellmckinney

Preachers love to come up with pithy little outlines to describe how God answers prayer requests. So, for today’s post I thought I’d share a couple such examples. Each of these has been passed around so much that I’m not sure who originally came up with it. The outline for the first example is: “No,” “Slow,” “Grow,” and “Go.” Similarly, the outline for the second example is: “Denied,” “Delay,” “Different,” and “Direct.”

First, there is the answer “No.” This answer can be associated with the word “Denied.” It is God saying to you, “Your request is not My will and so I’m refusing to grant it.” Anytime you receive such an answer, your job is to trust in God’s wisdom and love for you and drop the request. Don’t make the mistake of trying to badger, con, or whine Him into changing His mind and granting it.

Second, there is the answer “Slow.” This answer can be associated with the word “Delay.” It is God saying to you, “I’m going to grant your request, but there will be a delay in the granting because you must wait for My timing.” While this answer is better than a “No,” it can actually be more difficult than a flat-out rejection. This is especially true if the waiting that God has in mind will entail months, years, or even decades.

Third, there is the answer “Grow.” This answer can be associated with the word “Different.” It is God saying to you, “I’m going to grant your request, but I’m going to grow your understanding of Me and My work by granting the request in a different way than the simplistic, straight-forward one that you have in mind.” God typically employs this answer when we word our request in a vague way. For example, there is a difference between saying, “God, please meet my financial need” and saying, “God, please meet my financial need by burdening my Uncle Joe to give me $500.” It’s been my experience that God almost always declines my highly specific requests but usually grants my vague ones in ways that cause me, in the end, to marvel at how He granted them.

Fourth, there is the answer “Go.” This answer can be associated with the word “Direct.” It is God saying to you, “Go your way, assured in the knowledge that I’ve already granted your request in a very direct, straight-forward way.” When Abraham sent his servant to Mesopotamia to find a wife for Abraham’s son Isaac, the servant came to the Mesopotamian city of Nahor and stopped by the well that was located just outside the city (Genesis 24:1-11). There, the servant prayed and made a highly specific request regarding the young woman whom He was seeking (24:12-14). (I guess the servant hadn’t read what I just said about God almost always declining my specific requests.) And how did God answer the servant’s request? Even before the servant had finished praying, the girl that God had in mind to marry Isaac was already walking toward that servant (24:15). As soon as the servant saw her, he broke into a run to strike up a conversation with her (24:16). That’s what you call an incredibly direct answer to a prayer request.

In closing, let me say that while you probably haven’t utilized these four potential headings to classify God’s answers to your prayer requests, my guess is that you have experienced each type of answer at some point in your life. As a matter of fact, the chances are high that you are living out at least one of them right now. The key is to figure out which answer God is giving you and how He is working that answer out in your life. That isn’t always easy to do, and I’ll admit that it doesn’t always fit neatly into a prepackaged sermon outline. But God will help you sort through it all if you will let Him, and He will use His answer to funnel you into His will for your life. To quote yet another pithy line that preachers love, “Prayer isn’t you getting your will done in heaven; it is God getting His will done upon the earth.” Think about that the next time you are praying, and always trust God to do the right thing by you, even if what He considers the right thing doesn’t match up with your version of it.

Posted in Adversity, Desires, Disappointment, Discernment, Discipleship, God's Love, God's Timing, God's Provision, God's Will, God's Work, Needs, Personal, Prayer, Prayer Requests, Problems, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Why Don’t All Christians Believe the Same Way?

Posted on May 15, 2020 by russellmckinney

People wonder how sincere Christians can come to such different opinions in regards to what the Bible teaches. Why are there so many denominations? Why are there so many Christian groups? Why are there so many offshoots? Why are there so many offshoots of offshoots?

My answer is, it’s because you can take any one passage or verse from the Bible and use it to make the Bible teach just about anything. You see, it’s not that all the different denominations, groups, and offshoots don’t base their doctrinal beliefs upon scripture. The problem is that they emphasize different passages and verses. Let me show you how this works.

Some Christians see nothing wrong with getting married and back up that belief by using the Bible’s many passages that promote marriage. For example, Hebrews 13:4 says: “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled…” But what about 1 Corinthians 7:7, where the apostle Paul says in the context of a teaching on marriage, “I wish that all men were even as I myself (single)“? Whatever else we might say about that verse, let’s at least admit that a celibate priest or monk could build a life around it.

Some Christians see nothing wrong with having money and back up that belief by citing the likes of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Job, King David, King Solomon, and Joseph of Arimathea as being wealthy believers. Also, 1 Corinthians 16:2 teaches that Christians should give as God has prospered them. But what about Jesus telling the rich young ruler to sell all that he had and give the proceeds to the poor (Matthew 19:21; Mark 10:21; Luke 18:22)? And what about James 5:1-6, a passage that offers a strong rebuke of the greed and corruption that oftentimes accompany wealth? Whatever else we might say about that passage and Christ’s words to that ruler, let’s at least admit that a Christian might read them and deduce that having a lot of money hinders one’s walk with Christ.

Some Christians believe in the doctrine of eternal security, i.e. “once saved always saved.” One of the passages these Christians cite in support of this doctrine is Romans 8:31-39, which teaches that God will never bring a charge against His “elect” (the Christian) and that nothing can separate the Christian from the love of God in Christ. But what about John 15:1-8, where Jesus says that if a branch in Him doesn’t bear fruit, that branch will be taken away and thrown into the fire? And what about Revelation 22:19, which says that if anyone takes away from the words of the prophecy of that book, God will take away that person’s part in the Book of Life? Whatever else we might say about John 15:1-8 and Revelation 22:19, let’s at least admit that a Christian might read them and reach the conclusion that salvation can potentially be lost through certain behavior.

Some Christians believe that water baptism isn’t necessary for salvation but is, instead, merely a ritualized object lesson that serves as outer evidence of the inner transformation that has already taken place. Christians who hold to this doctrine quote John 3:16 and similar verses that teach that salvation comes singularly through belief in Jesus Christ. They also point out that neither Jesus (John 4:2) nor Paul (1 Corinthians 1:17) majored in baptizing people. But what about Acts 2:38, where Peter says, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”? And what about Mark 16:16, which quotes Jesus as saying, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved…”? Whatever else we might say about those two passages, let’s at least admit that a Christian might read them and think that baptism is a mandatory link in the chain of the salvation experience.

Some Christians criticize their fellow Christians who handle snakes and drink poison. The Christians in the first group say, “It’s wrong to expect God to protect you when you are purposely placing yourself in harm’s way. After all, Jesus said, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God” (Matthew 4:7; Luke 4:12). But what about Mark 16:17-18, which quotes Jesus as saying, “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover”? Whatever else we might say about that passage, let’s at least admit that a Christian might read it and interpret it completely literally.

Well, I think I’ve given you enough examples to help you understand why we have so many different Christian denominations, groups, offshoots, factions, cliques, movements, etc. Again, it’s not that they don’t all quote scripture to back up what they believe. The differences arise from what scriptures get quoted.

I have been a Christian since I was a boy, but I didn’t get serious — I mean really serious — about Bible study until the Lord called into the ministry. That means that for the past 25+ years I’ve had my nose in the book. And what have I learned during those years? I’ve learned that “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15) takes work, real work. Each verse must be interpreted in the light of the totality of scripture, and each doctrine must stand up to the challenge of verses and passages that might seem to contradict it. Putting it simply, we should interpret minority passages through the lens of majority passages, not the other way around. Ignoring twenty verses that teach one thing so that you can run wild with three verses that seem to teach a different thing is a surefire way to get off track.

Frankly, as complex as the Bible is, it’s no wonder that even devout Christians have a hard time reaching an agreement as to just exactly what it teaches. Please don’t take this to mean that the Bible can’t be understood or that it contradicts itself at every turn — neither is the case — but do take it as the explanation as to why Christians so oftentimes disagree when it comes to doctrine. Honestly, we really are trying, but the Bible isn’t exactly a Dr. Seuss book.

Posted in Baptism, Bible Study, Church, Discernment, Discipleship, Doctrine, Eternal Security, Giving, God's Will, God's Word, God's Work, Greed, Marriage, Money, Scripture, The Bible, Worship | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

When Digging a Hole Is Better Than Building an Altar

Posted on May 13, 2020 by russellmckinney

Then Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan Aram; and he pitched his tent before the city. And he bought the parcel of land, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money. Then he erected an altar there and called it El Elohe Israel. (Genesis 33:18-20, N.K.J.V.)

The first piece of real estate that Jacob ever legally owned in the land of Canaan was the plot of land he purchased near the city of Shechem. He paid 100 pieces of money for it, which was a sizable amount of money for that day. As evidence of how important the plot was to Jacob, he immediately built a permanent altar there.

While all this sounds fine on the surface, there was an underlying problem with Jacob’s encampment at Shechem. That problem was, there were some false gods (graven images, little idols) within the ranks of the camp. In particular, Jacob’s favorite wife Rachel had stolen her father Laban’s household gods and carried them with her from Laban’s home in Padan Aram to Shechem in Canaan (Genesis 31:19; 30-35). Perhaps other people in the camp had false gods as well. So, even as Jacob built his altar at Shechem, his camp was marked by idolatry.

Perhaps it shouldn’t have been so surprising, then, when Jacob’s entire family became involved in a grievous incident at Shechem. Dinah, Jacob’s lone daughter, got raped by one of the land’s young nobles, whose name was actually Shechem, and that kick-started a gruesome sequence of events that played out as follows (Genesis 34:1-3):

  • Shechem and his father Hamor went to Jacob and his sons in an attempt to get them to agree to let Shechem marry Dinah (34:4-12).
  • Jacob’s sons deceitfully agreed to allow not only the marriage but also full intermarrying between the two races of people, but only on the condition that Shechem, Hamor, and all the other men of the city of Shechem submit to circumcision (34:13-17).
  • Hamor and Shechem used the promise of potential financial gain from the alliance to convince the other males of the city to agree to be circumcised (34:18-24).
  • Three days after the men had all been circumcised, when they were all still in a great deal of pain, Simeon and Levi — Dinah’s two full-fledged brothers — went into the city and murdered Shechem, Hamor, and all the other males (34:25-26).
  • Following the massacre, the rest of Jacob’s sons went into the city, completely plundered it, and took the women and children as captives (34:27-29).

In the wake of these events, God appeared to Jacob and instructed him to move to Bethel and build another altar there (Genesis 35:1). Bethel was located some 30 miles south of Shechem and was the place where God had once appeared to Jacob (Genesis 28:10-22). But Jacob did something important before he loaded up camp and headed toward Bethel. Do you know what it was? He collected all the false gods from his household and buried them under a certain tree in Shechem (Genesis 35:2-4).

The teaching from this story is that religion without repentance doesn’t amount to much. At Shechem, Jacob was religious enough to build an altar and name it “El Elohe Israel,” which means “God, the God of Israel.” However, his attempt at worship was severely marred by the fact that he had false gods in his camp. Only when he rounded up those false gods and buried them did the full favor and protection of God come to rest upon him (Genesis 35:5-15):

So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem. (Genesis 35:4, N.I.V.)

We should keep this story in mind the next time we find ourselves disappointed that our prayers, Bible study, and church-attendance aren’t producing more of the blessing of God upon our lives. Could it be that our attempts at “religion” are to a large degree being negated by some type of idolatry? Could it be that rather than build an altar, what we really need to do is dig a hole in which to bury our idols?

An idol has been defined as being some type of noun to which you give time, money, and energy that rightly belong to the true and living God. In these modern days, an idol can be a person, a job, an organization, a pursuit, a type of entertainment, or a source of pleasure. Basically, it’s anything or anyone that you place in God’s slot. Metaphorically speaking, Christian, every idol that you have in your life needs to get buried in a hole and left behind as you move on at God’s bidding. These “burials” on your part are the only way to keep your “altars” in full working order, and they are the only way that you can truly live the victorious Christian life.

Posted in Backsliding, Idolatry, Repentance, Sin, Worship | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

“Christian Verses” Podcast: Isaiah 43:19

Posted on May 12, 2020 by russellmckinney

Let me ask you a serious question, and please don’t be so quick to answer. Think long and hard about your answer, and be completely honest. The question is: “If God told you that He wanted to do a truly new thing in your life, how would you feel about that?” Would the idea excite you? Would it scare you? Would you say, “Yes Lord, when can we start?” Or would you say, “Wait a minute, Lord, I’m going to need to know what this thing is before I sign off on it”? Do you long for change in your life? Or do you like your life just the way it is?

In the new podcast, Malcolm and I build a discussion around God’s promise to do a “new thing” in Israel and how He sometimes does “new things” in our lives. To hear the podcast, just click on the link below:

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When God Makes You a Troublemaker

Posted on May 11, 2020 by russellmckinney

Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?” (1 Kings 18:17, N.K.J.V.)

Ahab was the king of Israel, which was the name the Jewish northern kingdom took for itself while the southern kingdom called itself Judah. Ahab reigned for 22 years as king of the northern kingdom after succeeding his father, Omri, who had reigned over it for 12 years (1 Kings 16:21-29). Ahab was a wicked king who married a Phoenecian princess named Jezebel for purely political purposes (1 Kings 16:30-31).

Upon becoming queen, Jezebel brought her fanatical worship of the false god Baal to the northern kingdom. Ahab soon joined her in her religion and threw his full support behind it by having a Baal temple, complete with an altar, built in Samaria, the northern kingdom’s capital (1 Kings 16:32). He also had a wooden shrine built to honor Ashera, the false goddess who was thought to be Baal’s female consort (1 Kings 16:33). Ahab and Jezebel employed no less than 450 prophets to lead their citizens in the worship of Baal (1 Kings 18:19), and ultimately Jezebel even had the land’s true prophets of the Lord massacred (1 Kings 18:4).

Ahab and Jezebel’s actions set the stage for the prophet Elijah. One day Elijah showed up unannounced at Ahab’s palace and said to him, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word” (1 Kings 17:1, N.K.J.V.). Then Elijah left Ahab’s presence and wouldn’t be seen again for more than three full years. As soon as Elijah left, Ahab must have thought to himself, “Who was that nut? How did he even get in here?” The funny thing was, though, there was no dew on the grass the next morning, the morning after that, the morning after that, etc. And it didn’t rain, either. Days passed. Weeks passed. Months passed. Years passed. But not even a single drop of rain ever fell. By the time three-and-a-half years had passed, it still hadn’t rained a drop (James 5:17).

It was at this point that God told Elijah to pay Ahab a second visit (1 Kings 18:1). By now Ahab’s kingdom was deep in the throes of the severe drought (1 Kings 18:2). As Elijah was making his way there, he happened to meet up with Obadiah, a godly man who was what we might call the manager of Ahab’s royal palace (1 Kings 18:3-15). Obadiah arranged a meeting between Elijah and Ahab, and Ahab went to the meeting place (1 Kings 18:16). Upon seeing Elijah, Ahab uttered the words of our text verse: “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?”

I’ve taken the time to provide all this background information for the quote because I want you to understand that Ahab, not Elijah, was the actual troubler of Israel. He was the one, along with his wife Jezebel, who had brought Baal worship to Israel. He was the one who had built a temple to Baal. He was the one who had allowed Jezebel to slay God’s true prophets. And yet, in his mind, Elijah was the problem.

In God’s work, it is typical for the one who delivers God’s message of rebuke or condemnation to get labeled as the one who causes the trouble. Rather than accept the delivered message in the spirit in which it is given and repent of the sins, the person who receives it typically continues in his or her sin and goes gunning for the messenger. As evidence of this, there soon came a time when Jezebel put a “hit order” on Elijah. As further evidence of it, consider these other scriptural examples from the Old Testament:

  • The prophet Micaiah was imprisoned upon the orders of the same Ahab after delivering another message that Ahab didn’t like (1 Kings 22:1-28).
  • A seer named Hanani was imprisoned for delivering a message that Asa, the king of Judah, didn’t like (2 Chronicles 16:7-10).
  • A prophet named Zechariah (not the writer of the Bible’s book of Zechariah) was stoned to death for delivering a message that Joash, the king of Judah, didn’t like (2 Chronicles 24:20-21).
  • The prophet Elisha had his life threatened by Jehoriam, the king of Israel, because he thought of Elisha as being the spokesperson for the God who had allowed the Syrian army to lay siege to Samaria and create desperate conditions within the city (2 Kings 6:24-31).
  • The prophet Jeremiah spent virtually his entire ministry being persecuted and living under the threat of either arrest or death for preaching and prophesying things the people of Judah didn’t like (Jeremiah 11:18-23; 18:18-23; 20:1-18; 26:24; 37:11-21; 38-1-13).
  • The prophet Uriah verified and proclaimed the prophecies of Jeremiah and was put to death by Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, because of it (Jeremiah 26:20-23).
  • The prophet Amos was insulted by Amaziah, the priest of the northern kingdom’s city of Bethel, who told him to, “Go back home and do your prophesying there” (Amos 7:12-13).

Moving into the New Testament, the well-established pattern continues. Since I provided seven examples from the Old Testament, here are seven from the New Testament:

  • John the Baptist was imprisoned and eventually beheaded for delivering a message that Herod Antipas and his wife Herodias didn’t like (Matthew 14:3-12).
  • Jesus was crucified by the Romans at the request of the Jewish religious authorities.
  • All the apostles were arrested and beaten for preaching Jesus and healing in His name (Acts 5:17-40).
  • Stephen was stoned to death for delivering a message the Jewish Sanhedrin didn’t like (Acts 7:1-60).
  • Herod Agrippa I killed the apostle James and arrested the apostle Peter with the intent to kill him as well (Acts 12:1-4).
  • The apostle Paul was stoned and left for dead in Lystra for preaching Jesus and healing in His name (Acts 14:8-20).
  • Paul and Silas were jailed and whipped in Philippi for preaching Jesus and casting out a demon in His name (Acts 16:16-24).

As you can see, the Bible leaves no doubt as to the reaction the person who delivers God’s message, a message that cuts against the grain of those in authority, can expect. At best, those in authority will reject the message and ridicule the messenger. At worst, they will reject the message and seek to imprison or in the most extreme cases kill the messenger. This, Christian, is the territory you can expect when God makes you a troublemaker in His service. The good news, though, is that such perilous assignments carry with them incredible eternal rewards, rewards that you just can’t earn through more pleasant types of service. And I’ll offer Jesus’ own words concerning those rewards as the close to this post. They read as follows:

Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:11-12, N.K.J.V.)

Posted in God's Work, Ministry, Persecution, Preaching, Prophecy, Reward, Service | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Scared Yet?

Posted on May 8, 2020 by russellmckinney

Some people say the Coronavirus is a pandemic of potentially biblical proportions and if I don’t practice social distancing I’m putting myself and others at risk for nothing less than death. These people are also quick to point out that even as we are seeing a decline in the rate of cases and deaths here in America, there will almost certainly be a new outbreak of the virus during the fall. Even more than that, they say there’s a high chance the virus will mutate at some point and start the entire ordeal all over again.

On the other hand, some people say the Coronavirus is nothing much more than the seasonal flu and that the powers-that-be are nefariously using it as a tool to control the masses. These people say the past couple of months have all been just a trial run for a larger event that is to come, one that will allow the powers-that-be to control the masses in an even greater way. To hear these folks tell it, it’s all part of taking away our civil liberties and ushering in a one-world-government.

Some people say that if Donald Trump gets reelected this coming November, it will signal the end of the American way of life as we know it. These people say the damage that Trump will do during a second term as President will be so great that America will never recover from it. If I believe them, a vote for Trump this November will be a vote for not only my own demise but also the demise of my country.

On the other hand, some people say that if Joe Biden gets elected this coming November, it will signal the end of the American way of life as we know it. These people say the damage that Biden will do as President will be so great that America will never recover from it. If I believe them, a vote for Biden this November will be a vote for not only my own demise but also the demise of my country.

In the midst of all this fear-inducing hyperbole, last week the United States Department of Defense officially released three video clips that show navy pilots, during training flights, engaging unidentified flying objects (a.k.a. “ufos”) in the skies above military bases. One of the clips was from 2004 and the other two were from 2015, and all three had previously been circulated on the internet in an unauthorized way. For some reason, though, Pentagon officials decided that now was the time for them to officially release the footage and admit that the clips are real and that they show aerial phenomena that remains “unidentified.” Apparently, we didn’t have enough to worry about with the coronavirus. It’s as if the Department of Defense was saying, “You think the Coronavirus is scary? Here’s what you really have to worry about!”

And did you hear about the Asian giant hornets, known as “murder hornets,” that have now been seen in the United States for the first time? That comforting little bit of news came out last week, too. These are two-inch long insects that have killed as many as 50 people in Japan in a given year. And if causing human deaths isn’t bad enough, these invasive creatures might also devastate the populations of honeybees in the United States because they prey upon honeybees. According to the experts, these hornets actually decapitate the honeybees. Yikes! My son asked me if there was anything in the Bible about hornets. I said, “Yes, God promised to send hornets ahead of the Israelites to drive the inhabitants of Canaan from that land” (Exodus 23:28). Of course, applying that story to the United States today doesn’t produce a happy ending for us.

I’ve always been a big fan of horror movies, but it seems to me that the scariest thing on t.v. these days is the nightly news. The Coronavirus? Politics? UFOs? Murder hornets? It makes you wonder what else the year 2020 and the media might have in store for us. I sure am glad that I know Jesus Christ in a saving way and have the deep-settled inner peace that comes with that relationship.

I’m also glad that I have a working knowledge of Bible prophecy. Because of that knowledge, I don’t walk around scared to death of what the future holds. I know what it holds: events that will make anything the news is giving us now seem like “the good ole’ days.” I’m happy to report, however, that I also know that whether I leave this world by way of the prophesied Rapture or by way of death, Jesus is in charge of both trips. In that I take great comfort. But how would I be feeling these days if I didn’t know Jesus as my Savior? Well, I guess I’d have my basement turned into a bomb shelter and I’d be fixating upon every tidbit of doom-and-gloom news that I could find. I’d be watching the skies. I’d be stocking up on honey. And I’d own a really thick bee suit, too.

Posted in Christ's Second Coming, Christ's Return, Current Events, Fear, Politics, Trusting In God, Worry | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

What Does God Do With the Christian’s Sins?

Posted on May 6, 2020 by russellmckinney

I recently ran across a little piece, entitled What Does God Do With My Sins?,  that was written to help the Christian feel thoroughly confident in his or her assurance of salvation. I liked the piece so much that I thought I’d share it as a blog post. In the interest of providing full accreditation, let me mention that I cut the piece out of The Sword the Lord newspaper with the original source for it being The Biblical Witness. Ready? Here we go (all references from the N.K.J.V.):

What does God do with my sins? He lays them on His Son, Jesus Christ.

All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)

What does God do with my sins? He forgives them.

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. (Ephesians 1:7)

What does God do with my sins? He cleanses them all away by the blood of Christ.

But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)

What does God do with my sins? He blots them out as a thick cloud.

I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, And like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you. (Isaiah 44:22)

What does God do with my sins? He remembers them no more.

…then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” (Hebrews 10:17)

What does God do with my sins? He will not reckon them against us.

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin. (Romans 4:8)

What does God do with my sins? He blots out the proof of them, nailing that proof to the cross of Jesus.

And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. (Colossians 2:13-14)

Okay, that is where the original piece stopped, after having listed those seven answers to the question of what God does with the Christian’s sins. As I went through the list, though, I thought about a few more Biblical answers. So, I’ll add in three more of my own to bring the number up to ten. Here we go:

What does God do with my sins? He purges them.

…who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…(Hebrews 1:3)

What does God do with my sins? He makes them as white as snow and wool.

“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.”

What does God do with my sins? He removes them as far as the east is from the west.

As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Posted in Christ's Death, Comfort, Eternal Security, Forgiveness, God's Love, God's Mercy, Grace, Guilt, Salvation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Carrying Water

Posted on May 4, 2020 by russellmckinney

The Civil War’s Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia, was primarily fought on December 13, 1862. Approximately 200,000 soldiers fought in the battle, as Union General Ambrose Burnside commanded his 120,000 troops in a two-pronged attacked against Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s 80,000 troops. Lee’s troops were able to turn back both prongs of the attack, but the Union army and the Confederate army each suffered casualties in the thousands.

One field in particular, which was marked by a long stone wall, had hundreds of Union soldiers who were either dead or wounded lying in it. The carnage was the result of 2,000 Confederate soldiers holding their positions behind the wall and firing into the Union soldiers as they attempted to advance toward it. To make the horrific scene even worse, the Union soldiers who were wounded spent the rest of the day and the entirety of the night crying out for water their fellow comrades couldn’t bring them for fear of being shot themselves.

The cries were so mournful and so persistent that they broke the heart of a nineteen-year-old Confederate sergeant named Richard Kirkland. The next day, December 14, Kirkland went to his field General, Joe Kershaw, and said, “General, I can’t stand this any longer! All day and all night I have heard those poor people calling for water. I’ve come to ask permission to go and give them some.”

General Kershaw admired the young sergeant’s compassion for the enemy, but he couldn’t help but worry about what the Union soldiers on the other side of the field would do if they saw a Confederate soldier moving toward their wounded. Kershaw said, “Sergeant, don’t you know that you would get a bullet through your head the moment you stepped over the wall?” “Yes, sir,” Kirkland answered, “but if you will let me, I am willing to try it.” Finally, with one last comment on Kirkland’s noble motives and a request that God would protect the young sergeant, Kershaw agreed to the request.

From the second-story window of his command post, Kershaw watched as Kirkland, carrying several canteens of water, jumped over the wall and headed out into the battlefield. To Kershaw’s amazement, the Union soldiers didn’t fire upon Kirkland even as he arrived at the first wounded Union soldier. Kirkland carefully lifted the soldier’s head, gave him a drink of water, and then adjusted the soldier’s coat for warmth before moving on to the next of the wounded.

It soon became evident to the Union army what Kirkland was doing, and they allowed him to roam the battlefield freely. By the time his job was completed, Kirkland had made several trips back across the wall to get more water to give to the wounded soldiers. His incredible act of compassion will always stand as one of the greatest acts of compassion ever offered in the midst of warfare.

Russell Dennis, Jr., the President of Heritage Baptist College in Franklin, Indiana, has said the following concerning Richard Kirkland’s deed:

As soldiers in the army of the Lord, we see so much need and suffering. If we listen, we can often hear their cries. Like the woman at the well, they seek for water — that Water of Life found only in Jesus Christ our Lord. When we take courage like Richard Kirkland and say, “I can’t stand this!” we can begin to be led by the Holy Spirit to reach a thirsty world.

So, Christian, how about you? Have you jumped over any walls lately to minister to someone who needed your help? If you haven’t, maybe it’s time you did. The wounded are lying here, there, and everywhere all around this world. As Jesus said to His chosen twelve in that same story about the woman at the well, “…Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” Those wounded all need Jesus, the Water of Life. Will you step out from behind your protective wall and take Him to them?

Posted in Courage, Discipleship, Doing Good, Evangelism, God's Work, Mercy, Ministry, Salvation, The Gospel | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments