Spiritual Leaders & Preachers’ Kids (post #1 of 2)

Posted on September 2, 2020 by russellmckinney

Maybe you’ve heard about the recent troubles of Jerry Falwell Jr. After a string of scandals, he has now been ousted as the President of Liberty University, the school his father founded. The whole story has given Christianity yet another black eye in regards to public opinion.

What I’d like to do with this post is provide the basic information concerning the rise and fall of Falwell Jr. This information will set the stage for my followup post, which is the one that I really want to write. Please know that it is not my intention with either post to bash Falwell Jr. or pile onto him after he has been tackled. Rather than do that, what I want to do is attempt to explain how a Christian leader such as him can get tackled so hard.

Falwell Jr. graduated from the Virginia School of Law in 1987 and worked as a lawyer for twenty years before becoming the President of Liberty University in 2007. Him becoming the school’s President was part of a succession plan that his father, Jerry Falwell Sr., had announced before Sr.’s death. Per the father’s wishes, Falwell Jr. inherited the presidency of Liberty University while the younger brother, Jonathan Falwell, inherited the Senior Pastor role of Thomas Road Baptist Church, the church Falwell Sr. founded. Obviously this was all a colossal case of nepotism, but the plan worked well for several years as both the school and the church flourished under the new leadership. For that matter, the church continues to thrive under the leadership of Jonathan Falwell.

As for the university, however, things have now hit the skids concerning Falwell Jr.’s leadership. Actually, there had been rumors and allegations before about problems with him. For example, in 2019 Politico ran an article that accused him of bringing profits into the school by selling merchandise that promoted Donald Trump’s campaign and of ruling over Liberty like a dictator. A Reuters investigation that same year accused him of taking part in a strange real-estate death whereby he apparently signed over ownership of the university’s sports facility to the personal trainer employed by him and his wife Becki. There was also a letter that certain members of Congress drafted in which they asserted that Falwell Jr. made a habit of personally blocking students from writing student columns that were critical of Donald Trump.

Nothing, however, ever seemed to touch Falwell Jr.’s leadership of Liberty. Whatever issues he had, none of them affected his ability to bring in money for the school. He had been, after all, a lawyer in his previous life and knew his way around the ins and outs of how to conduct big business.

Unlike his brother Jonathan, Falwell Jr. wasn’t an ordained minister and never claimed to be one. For lack of a better term, he was a “player” who knew how to get over with people and make money. His father put his abilities to good use in the mid 1990s when Liberty found itself more than 100 million dollars in debt. Falwell Jr. began the school’s financial comeback by renegotiating financing packages with Liberty’s creditors and pulling off a series of successful real-estate deals, all of which helped the school climb out of its financial hole. Next, he vamped up the school’s online distance-learning programs, a move that caused thousands of new online students and their tuition money to come pouring into the school. At one point, Liberty had over 100,000 students involved in its online distance-learning program.

By 2012, five years after Falwell Sr.’s death and Falwell Jr’s ascension to Liberty’s Presidency, the school had over 1 billion dollars in assets. The school’s Board of Trustees loved Jerry Jr. for the cash cow that he was for the school, and every major Republican candidate made his or her way to him to seek his endorsement. Not only did he regularly hobknob with America’s leading evangelicals and most powerful Republican politicians, he also lived the life of a millionaire king. What could possibly go wrong?

What went wrong was a certain trip to Miami that Falwell Jr. and Becki took in March of 2012. While staying at a posh hotel there, they met a 21-year-old pool attendant named Giancarlo Granda. Shortly after meeting Granda, Becki had an affair with him. Granda claims that Falwell Jr. knew all about the affair, and even enjoyed watching Granda and Becki engage in sexual relations, but Falwell Jr. denies these claims. What isn’t in dispute is that Granda quickly became a part of the Falwell’s inner circle as he began taking frequent trips with them in their private jet. Also, the Falwells put up almost 2 million dollars to buy and renovate a Miami Beach hostel (a lodging establishment similar to a hotel but cheaper) so that their son Trey could run it with Granda.

The deal for the hostel became a problem a few years later when a friend of Granda’s, Jesus Fernandez Jr., claimed that he and his father had helped Falwell Jr. choose the hostel site and that Falwell Jr. had promised them part ownership of the establishment. The father and son sued Falwell Jr., and things turned really ugly when rumors began to circulate that someone involved in the lawsuit was blackmailing Falwell Jr. with some type of sexually compromising photos. At that point Michael Cohn, who was well known as being Donald Trump’s “fixer,” got involved on Falwell Jr.’s behalf and somehow got the lawsuit dropped and the whole scandal buried. (For the record, the lawsuit has now been refiled.)

Then came January 18th, 2016, the day Donald Trump spoke at Liberty University. That was the day he made his infamous gaffe of calling the book of Second Corinthians “Two Corinthians.” Falwell Jr. lavished praise on Trump that day, and a few days later, on January 26th, less than a week before the Iowa caucuses, formally and publicly endorsed Trump as the Republican candidate for the office of President of the United States. Can you see how a cynic might say that Falwell Jr. owed Trump that endorsement for sending Michael Cohn down to Miami to solve the problem of the lawsuit and the reportedly blackmail-worthy photos?

Trump, as we know, went on to become the President of the United States, and everything remained relatively calm at Liberty for the next few years. But then Falwell Jr. served as the agent of his own demise by posting, of all things, a picture of himself on Instagram. The picture was taken during a bizarre yacht party in which the attendants wore outfits in keeping with the mock documentary “Trailer Park Boys.” In the picture, Falwell Jr. had the lower half of his shirt tied up and his pants unzipped low enough to expose not only his belly but some of his underwear, and he had his arm around a woman who was not his wife. The woman, who was later said to actually be pregnant, was wearing a pair of short, slightly unzipped shorts, and she too had the lower half of her shirt tied up enough to show her belly button and midriff. Falwell Jr. was holding a drink as well, which he jokingly noted was only “black water,” as if that was the only disturbing aspect of the whole photo.

The ensuing backlash forced Falwell Jr. to publicly apologize, and on August 7th he took an indefinite leave of absence as Liberty’s President. Even during that leave of absence, however, on August 19th he managed to stir up even more controversy around himself by posting, again on Instagram, a truly disturbing video of himself using a bar to do pelvic thrusts in Liberty’s workout room while two attractive co-eds, one standing on each side, literally stood on top of the bar. Anyone who saw that video had to wonder, “Has this guy lost his mind or what?” Along about that same time it was also revealed that Falwell Jr. had a longstanding habit of “liking” pictures of Liberty’s bikini-clad female students on Instagram.

By that point, the blood was in the water as all the old rumors and stories — stories such as Falwell Jr.’s ease at making crude sexual references and sharing provocative photos of his wife — began to resurface. Just a few days later, on August 23rd, he admitted his wife’s affair with Granda and suggested that Granda had been trying to extort money from him. Finally it all became too much for Liberty’s Board of Trustees, and on August 25th Falwell Jr. officially resigned as Liberty’s President, walking away with a severance package of over 10 million dollars. Since then the Board of Trustees has hired a leading forensic firm to conduct a thorough investigation into all aspects of Falwell Jr.’s days as Liberty’s President. That means they will be looking into not only all the reports of sexual misconduct but also into possible misconduct regarding all financial, real estate, and legal dealings.

Again, I’m not relaying all this information for the purpose of bashing Jerry Falwell, Jr. I’m doing it simply to lay the groundwork for my following post, which will address the twin topics of why spiritual leaders so oftentimes end up embroiled in scandals and why preachers’ kids so oftentimes end up straying from their Christian upbringing. Those are the two pieces of meat that I really want to provide for this meal. The fact is that Jerry Falwell Jr. is just the latest in a long line of spiritual leaders and preachers’ kids whose lives have not gone according to schedule. Hopefully, by dragging these topics into the light, I can provide some helpful insights into why that line is so long. So, until next time, I’ll ask you to stay tuned, and you might consider saying a prayer for Jerry Falwell Jr., his family, Liberty University, and everyone else involved in the whole sordid mess. I seriously doubt that we have heard the last of the story.

Posted in Adultery, Backsliding, Character, Church, Church Attendance, Current Events, Depravity, God's Work, Husbands, Hypocrisy, Lust, Marriage, Ministry, Pastors, Personal Holiness, Politics, Preaching, Service, Sex, Sin, Temptation, Wives | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Jesus On You

Posted on August 31, 2020 by russellmckinney

“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11, N.K.J.V.)

A church member caught a wave of excitement about serving the Lord and said to his pastor, “I’d like to do something to help the cause of Christ.” The pastor answered, “Well, if you are really serious, I happen to know that they are in need of volunteers at the Christian homeless shelter.” The man said, “Fine, I’ll go down there and make myself useful.”

Upon arriving at the shelter, which was located in a particularly seedy part of town,  the man told the shelter’s Director, “I’m here to help.” The Director said, “Great, you can start by standing outside on the street corner and inviting passersby to come inside and attend the chapel service that is about to begin.” The new volunteer agreed to do the job, but he was disappointed that he hadn’t been given a more glamorous assignment. To make matters worse, he wore his disappointment like a cheap suit as he extended his invitation to the bums and derelicts who were making their way down the street.

The more the man invited those societal outcasts to come inside, the more they rejected the offer, and the worse his body language and facial expressions grew. Finally, things came to a head when he asked one especially rough looking fellow, “Wouldn’t you like to come inside and hear about the Savior who has made me what I am today?” To that the fellow answered, “No thanks, I’ve got enough problems of my own.”

Christian, in case you haven’t been told lately, you make for a poor advertisement for Jesus when you go around looking like you’ve been reading the book of Lamentations all day. The fact is that people are tired, stressed out, and worn down by life. To quote the famous line from Henry David Thoreau, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” While this is pretty much the status quo all the time, it is especially true in these days of Covid-19, race riots, contentious politics, and all the other bad news that can be crammed into a nightly newscast. Therefore, the last thing people need to see out of you is a doom-and-gloom attitude marked by a hangdog face. Neither one of those conveys the joy that Jesus died that you might have and that others can have once they come to know Him as Savior.

Perhaps you’ve heard that well known acrostic for Christian “joy”: “Jesus, Others, and You.” In the spirit of this post, however, allow me to offer the different acrostic: “Jesus On You.” You see, just as our text verse quotes Jesus as saying that His joy remains in the Christian, that same joy should also remain on the Christian by way of body language and facial expressions. Keep this in mind, Christian, anytime you are dealing with others, and let them see the fullness of the joy that Jesus creates bubbling up from inside you. After all, if they don’t see that joy, why would they be interested in the Savior you claim has changed your life for the better?

Posted in Attitude, Current Events, Joy, Salvation, Witnessing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Dead Roses

Posted on August 28, 2020 by russellmckinney

And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his plan and purpose. (Romans 8:28, Amplified Bible)

Tony Evans tells the story of seeing a woman who was holding some dead roses. The site caught his attention because he wondered why she was holding those drooping, lifeless flowers. To him such flowers seemed good for nothing.

Then he watched as the woman began crumpling up the roses. At that point his curiosity was piqued enough to walk over to her and ask her what she was doing. She answered by explaining to him that the roses were sufficiently dead enough and dry enough to crush to create potpourri. Even though the roses were dead on the outside, they still had a sweet fragrance on the inside.

Life can be hard, downright brutal in fact. It can take vibrant, healthy situations and relationships and cause them to become as drooping and lifeless as those roses in that woman’s hand. And truth be told, metaphorically speaking, most of us are walking around carrying some dead roses. But can God use those dead roses to create some sweet-smelling potpourri? You bet He can.

The Bible’s classic passage to convey this truth is Romans 8:28, the text verse for this post. I used the Amplified Bible’s rendering because I suspect that many of us have heard the King James translation’s version so much that the power of the verse has become a little lost on us. You’ll note that Paul, writing under the inspiration of God, says, “We KNOW that God causes ALL things to work together for GOOD in the life of those who love God and are called according to His purpose and plan.” That would be you, Christian. Therefore, you should claim Paul’s statement as an encouraging promise that can be applied to anything that life throws at you.

A divorce, the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, the diagnosis of a potentially fatal disease, an eviction notice — these all might be likened to dead roses. Of course, the ultimate example of “dead roses” is the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. But who could even begin to calculate the immeasurable good (the sweet-smelling potpourri, we might say) that God has brought out of that death and continues to bring out of it? I think you’ll agree with me that calling each Christian’s salvation experience “good” is a landmark understatement!

Christian, it is with all this in mind that I encourage you to get alone with God sometime and have a serious talk with Him about the “dead roses” in your life. Ask Him to help you get past the hurt of them. Ask Him to help you get over the bitterness that has settled upon you in the wake of them. And be sure to ask Him to bring sweet-smelling potpourri out of them. Not only does Romans 8:28 guarantee that He can do that and will do it, Christ’s death on the cross proves that the greater the loss, the greater the potpourri will be. This is why I say that you’d be well advised to give God your “dead roses” and let Him start crushing them. If you think about it, all you’ve got to lose is an armful of death.

Posted in Adversity, Anger, Brokenness, Christ's Death, Comfort, Death, Depression, Disappointment, Encouragement, God's Love, God's Omnipotence, God's Work, Grace, Persecution, Perseverance, Prayer, Problems, Reconciliation, Restoration, Revenge, Suffering, Suicide, Trials, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

More Beyond

Posted on August 26, 2020 by russellmckinney

For centuries the country of Portugal proudly proclaimed the motto “Nothing More Beyond.” This was back when European sailors believed that the world was flat and had an edge over which a ship would plummet into a black hole. Terrifying monsters purportedly lived at the world’s edge, and the waters off the shores of Sagres, Portugal were thought to be filled with these monsters. Eventually, of course, brave sailors proved Portugal’s motto to be an incorrect assumption, and at that time the country’s motto was changed to “More Beyond.”

Christian, have you walked with the Lord enough yet to have learned not to make long-range assumptions about His will for your life? Abraham (Abram, as he was then known) probably thought that he would live his entire life in the city of Ur. That certainly didn’t play out like he figured, did it? Likewise, Moses probably thought that he would live out his days in Egypt. Then he killed an Egyptian, had to flee from Egypt, found himself in Midian, got married, fathered children, and made a home in Midian. Scripture indicates that he planned to spend the rest of his life there in Midian, but that didn’t happen, either. Gideon surely didn’t see himself becoming a great leader of Israel, but that didn’t stop God from raising him up to be a Judge over Israel. Peter, Andrew, James, and John no doubt assumed they would all spend the rest of their lives working as fishermen on the Sea of Galilee. Then along came Jesus and, well, we know how that ended.

The fact is, the Bible provides us with scores of examples wherein individuals have their lives thrown into a totally different spin cycle at God’s bidding. A shepherd boy named David becomes a king. A sheep breeder named Amos becomes a prophet. A tax collector named Levi becomes an apostle named Matthew. A rabbinical student named Saul becomes an apostle named Paul. On and on the examples go. It seems that God hates few things like He hates people becoming stationary, complacent, and (dare I say it?) comfortable. Why is He like that? Surely it’s because He knows that when we become stationary, complacent, and comfortable we also become much less impressed by how much we need Him.

It is with all this in mind that I warn you against assuming that the Lord has no more surprises in store for you. Remember that Jesus called Himself “the good Shepherd” (John 10:11). And what do shepherds do? They lead. And what do sheep do when shepherds lead? They follow. Sheep following their shepherd, that’s how the likes of Abraham, Moses, David, Amos, Matthew, and Paul became the likes of Abraham, Moses, David, Amos, Matthew, and Paul.

I don’t know who first uttered that line, “If you want to make the Lord laugh tell Him your future plans,” but I guarantee you that Peter, Andrew, James, John, and a whole host of other Bible characters would say, “Amen” to it. God isn’t a stationary God. He is active, engaged, and on the move, and He doesn’t mind calling us to be active, engaged, and on the move with Him. You ask, “But where will He take me?” Honestly, I don’t know. But what I do know is that Psalm 23 only uses the word “leads” twice. In verse 2, David says the Lord leads us to still waters, and in verse 3 he says the Lord leads us in the paths of righteousness. Both of those descriptions sound pretty good, don’t they? So, anytime you feel that the Lord is leading you somewhere, don’t be afraid to follow Him. And anytime you think that you’ve got your life neatly planned, organized, categorized, and destined, don’t be surprised if the Shepherd says to you, “Nope, that’s your plan, not mine. Instead of doing that, I want you to……”

Posted in Change, Choices, Courage, Decisions, Discipleship, Dying To Self, Faithfulness, God's Will, Submission, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Was Solomon Saved?

Posted on August 24, 2020 by russellmckinney

One of my church members recently asked me about King Solomon’s salvation (or lack of it). The question was a fair one because there is some honest debate as to the answer. While no individual from the Old Testament era was saved in the sense of being born again and indwelt by God the Holy Spirit the way Christians are today, this is not to say that each of those folks can’t be categorized into either the camp “saved” or “lost.” As for which camp Solomon eternally finds himself, let me present the arguments for both potential answers and then conclude by sharing my answer.

First, let’s start with the possible evidences that Solomon was a saved individual. Those evidences are:

  • Solomon is credited with writing no less than three books of the Bible: Ecclesiastes, The Song of Solomon, and Proverbs (he personally wrote or at least compiled all or most of the material in that book).
  • Solomon oversaw the construction of the Jewish temple.
  • Solomon’s reign as Israel’s King, despite being fraught with serious problems, is generally looked upon as being Israel’s most glorious era.
  • Jesus twice referenced Solomon, and neither reference carries a hint of condemnation: Matthew 6:28-29, 12:42.
  • The story of how Solomon asked God to grant him wisdom to rule over the people of Israel speaks of how Solomon (at least in his younger days) loved the Lord and wholly trusted in Him (1 Kings 3:3-15).
  • It is generally assumed that Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes when he was in the last years of his life, and that makes the book’s closing words highly significant. He says, “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, N.I.V.).
  • God told David that David’s son (Solomon) would be the one to build the temple, and God promised David He would never take His mercy away from Solomon the way He did with Saul (2 Samuel 7:12-16; 1 Chronicles 17:11-15).

As you can see, the resume for Solomon being a saved believer whose soul is in heaven right now is an impressive one. But now let’s present the other side of the argument. As we will learn, that side turns out to be pretty impressive as well. The possible evidences that Solomon was not a saved individual are:

  • Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines, many of them from races that Israel was commanded to avoid (1 Kings 11:1-3).
  • Over the course of time, those foreign women with their foreign gods turned Solomon’s heart toward idolatry (1 Kings 11:4-6).
  • More than just being an idolater in his heart, Solomon actually built worship shrines to many of his false gods (1 Kings 11:7-8).
  • The only reason that God didn’t tear the kingdom away from Solomon was out of remembrance for Solomon’s father, David. However, God did tear it away from Solomon’s son/heir, Rehoboam, as during Rehoboam’s reign the united nation underwent a civil war and was split into two separate kingdoms (1 Kings 11:9-13; 12-1-24).
  • There is no passage in which we find the record of Solomon ever confessing his sins or repenting of them the way David did after his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah (2 Samuel 12:13)
  • Despite the fact that David had told Solomon, “If you forsake the Lord, He will cast you off forever” (1 Chronicles 28:9, emphasis mine), Solomon launched headlong into rank idolatry and in so doing did forsake the Lord to some degree at least.

Do you see now why some people contend that Solomon, despite his legendary spiritual resume, was in actuality not saved? Okay, so which way do I fall in regards to this debate? Well, I maintain that Solomon was indeed a saved believer whose soul is right now in heaven with the Lord.

To me, it’s crystal clear that Solomon started out saved at the beginning of his reign. That being the case, the only way he could have died lost was to have sinned enough to cancel out his salvation somewhere along the way. That would mean that salvation can potentially be lost. Standing in contrast to that idea, however, is the long list of passages that teach that the saved believer is eternally secure in his or her salvation. (If you are interested in seeing that list, please read my post “Once Saved Always Saved.”) 

As I interpret Solomon’s life, he never lost his salvation even though he certainly did experience God’s chastisement because of his womanizing and idolatry. He didn’t lose his eternal relationship with God, but he did lose his daily fellowship with Him. I think that Solomon stands as a prime example of a person who allowed God’s blessings to actually become an impediment to serving God. He was a man who no doubt earned many eternal rewards by the outstanding ways he served God at various times in his life, but he also no doubt missed out on many such rewards as well. All in all, though, I simply cannot imagine Solomon not being saved. There’s just too much evidence that he was despite the fact that he surely didn’t always live up to his salvation.

Posted in Backsliding, Eternal Security, Polygamy, Salvation | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Two Fascinating Teachings From Jesus

Posted on August 21, 2020 by russellmckinney

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'” (Matthew 7:21-23, N.K.J.V.)

These words from Jesus are famous for a reason. In them, He provides us with two fascinating teachings. Let’s take these teachings one at a time.

Teaching #1 is: There is an inextricable link between salvation and doing the will of God. When Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven…”, we expect the next words from Him to be something along the lines of, “…but he who believes in Me.” But that’s not what Jesus says. Instead, He goes with, “…but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” This means that if you want to enter the kingdom of heaven, you must do the will of God.

Obviously, if this was the only passage that we were allowed to consult, our preaching concerning salvation would have to major upon works. We’d have to preach that the way to experience salvation is to do God’s will. However, the problem with such preaching is that it starkly contradicts the Bible’s scores of other passages that plainly teach that salvation comes through belief (faith) and not works. I’m talking about passages such as John 3:16; Romans 1:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; and Titus 2:5 just to name a few.

So, what are we to make of this apparent contradiction? Well, this is one of those cases where we must interpret a minority passage (Matthew 7:21-23) through a list of majority passages to figure out exactly what the minority passage means. And by doing that we learn that true salvation — which is granted to you by God the moment you place your belief (faith) in Jesus — will inevitably create in you a desire to do God’s will.

This makes perfect sense in light of the fact that God the Holy Spirit literally takes up residence inside the believer at the moment of salvation. I mean, why wouldn’t the indwelling Holy Spirit build into the believer the desire to do God’s will? Actually, we would expect nothing less of Him. This explains why Philippians 2:13 says that God works inside the believer not only to will His good pleasure but to do it.

The upshot of all this is that even though good works can never be the requirement for salvation, they must be the result of it. They aren’t the basis for salvation, but they are the byproduct of it. As a matter of fact, this divine link between salvation and works is the major theme of the entire book of James. Summing up that theme, James says that if you are authentically saved, you will have some outer evidence to verify your claim.

Moving on now, teaching #2 is this: Lost people have the ability to perform religious works but don’t get any eternal credit for those works. As for the question of which acts constitute God’s will, we would assume that it would be things like prophesying in Christ’s name, casting out demons in Christ’s name, and performing many other wonders in His name, right? Interestingly, though, Jesus says that it’s possible to do all these things and yet still remain spiritually lost. Talk about a confusing turn of events!

Furthermore, Jesus goes on to say that lost people performing such works amounts to the practicing of “lawlessness” (N.K.J.V.). The Greek word translated as “lawlessness” is anomia, and it literally means “a violation of the law.” You see, lost people can’t even earn credit with God by doing deeds that most people would classify as good and wholesome. To the contrary, when lost people do one of these deeds, God considers it nothing less than a breaking of His law.

Can you spot the ironic twist that is latent in these two teachings from Christ? It goes like this: The exact same deeds that authenticate the salvation of believers actually alienate lost people even further from God! When the saved believer performs religious works in the name of Christ, the Lord says, “These works prove that you truly are one of Mine.” But when the lost unbeliever performs those same religious works in the same name of Christ, the Lord says, “You just added to the sin debt that stands between Me and you.”

This raises the question: Why does God classify the lost person’s religious works as a breaking of His law? It’s because whereas the keeping of God’s law is all about submitting to God, the lost person’s fundamental refusal to place his belief (faith) in Jesus is proof positive that he takes every breath as an unsubmitted rebel. Even if he doesn’t ride in a biker gang, cuss the police at every turn, and refuse to pay income taxes, he is still a rebel in God’s eyes because he hasn’t carried out what we might call God’s “starter will” by getting saved. In this way, any fine upstanding citizen who has a clean track record by earth’s standards can nevertheless be deemed a law-breaking rebel by heaven’s standards.

And how will such a life end if the lost person never places saving belief in Jesus, thereby submitting to the Savior in a very real sense? It will end the only way that it can end, with Jesus saying to that person in the afterlife, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” Notice that He won’t say, “I knew you while you were performing those religious works in My name, but then we parted ways when you stopped doing those works.” No, what He’ll say is, “I never knew you.” This is yet more proof that salvation isn’t based upon works. Of course, I shouldn’t have to tell you that these are words that no one will want to hear from Jesus. Sadly, though, no less an authority than Jesus Himself assures us that MANY will surely hear them.

Posted in Belief, Coming Judgment, Dying To Self, Eternity, Faith, God's Wrath, God's Judgment, God's Will, Good Works, Grace, Heaven, Hell, Obedience, Salvation, Submission | Leave a comment

Working on Your Real You

Posted on August 19, 2020 by russellmckinney

Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom. (Psalm 51:6, N.A.S.V.)

Tony Evans has a wonderful illustration involving Michael Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, and Diana Ross. Since all three of these celebrities are older now, and Jordan has long been retired from his sport, the illustration is a bit dated. Making allowances for that, however, it still conveys a powerful truth. Evans writes:

Who is Michael Jordan? Most would probably say the greatest basketball player that has ever played the game. Who is Sylvester Stallone? Most would probably say a great actor depending on the movie. Who is Diana Ross? Most would probably say one of the greatest singers of this generation.

If you would say Michael Jordan is a basketball player, Sylvester Stallone is an actor, and Diana Ross a singer, you would be absolutely wrong for I would not have just described to you who they were. I would have only told you what they do. The greatest mistake in the world is to use your performance to give you your identity. The greatest mistake in the world is to define yourself by what you do. And yet it is the primary way that people define themselves.

I’ve found that pastors seem to be especially prone to falling victim to this mistake that Evans describes. Someone asks me, “Who are you?” I answer, “I’m Russell Mckinney, the pastor of Roan Mountain Baptist Church.” No, that answer is incorrect in two ways. First, I’m Russell Mckinney no matter what I’m doing. Second, being the pastor of a church is what I do, not who I am.

Regardless of whether Russell Mckinney earns his living as a pastor, a dishwasher, a librarian, a surgeon, a bulldozer operator, or some other way, the same basic rules apply to his personage. He needs Jesus as His Savior. He needs to spend quality time in prayer each day. He needs to regularly read his Bible in a devotional way and study it in a discipleship way. He needs to be a part of a good local church. He needs to use his spiritual gifts and talents for the cause of Christ. He needs to give a right amount of his finances to support the Lord’s work. He needs to witness to others, telling them about Jesus. He needs to live a moral life. He needs to shun temptation. Etc., etc., etc.

All this holds true regardless of whether Russell Mckinney is married or single, has children or doesn’t, owns his home or rents it, and has the title to his car or is still making monthly car payments. You see, the core basic of who I am is never dependent upon outward circumstances. If Roan Mountain Baptist Church fires me today, I’m still Russell Mckinney. If my wife Tonya divorces me today, I’m still Russell Mckinney. If my two sons forsake me, I’m still Russell Mckinney. If the bank forecloses on my house and evicts me, I’m still Russell Mckinney. If I have to sell my car and start walking everywhere, I’m still Russell Mckinney.

Job was the wealthiest man of the East, his wealth being determined by means of livestock rather than stocks and bonds (Job 1:3). He was also the father of seven sons and three daughters (Job 1:2). But even when Job’s wealth was stolen from him and his children were all killed in a freak tragedy, he was still Job (Job 1:13-19). Somehow he instinctively understood this. That’s why he tore his robe in a symbolic act of mourning, shaved his head, and worshiped God by saying, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:20-21). Job was conveying the idea, “Lord, what has happened to me outwardly has not changed who I am inwardly.”

You can’t always control what is going on with you (either for the good or the bad) outwardly, but you can always control what is going on with you inwardly. I’m reminded of that little girl who was standing with her family in front of their house that had just been destroyed by fire. A firefighter said to her, “I’m sorry, honey, but you and your folks don’t have a home anymore.” She answered, “Yes, we do; we just don’t have a house to put it in.” That was her way of saying to that firefighter, “We are still who we are. The circumstances in which we currently find ourselves have changed, but we haven’t.”

Do you know why some people fail once they are given the opportunity to sit in one of life’s big chairs? It’s because inwardly they were too small to fill the chair. The truth is that no golden opportunity can bring out the best in a person if that best isn’t already inside that person. This is why I encourage you to work on your “real you,” that person our text verse calls your “innermost being.” Get that person mature, healthy, and holy before you try to conquer the world.

Of course, the most effective way to get this inward work done is to allow the indwelling Holy Spirit to help you with it. The problem with that, though, is that the Holy Spirit only indwells born-again Christians, and the vast majority of people in the world aren’t born-again Christians. If, however, you are a born-again Christian don’t hesitate to request the Holy Spirit’s help to make your “real you” the best “you” you can possibly be.

Remember that who you are as an individual has nothing to do with your family, your job, your financial status, your social standing, or your accomplishments. All of those things are simply the lens through which the world sees you. God, on the other hand, sees you for who you actually are way down there in your innermost being. As our text verse says, that is where He desires truth from you and that is where He will cause you to know His wisdom. That means that your “real you” is both the ultimate confessional and the ultimate classroom. It’s your job to bring the unfiltered truth about yourself to that confessional, and then it’s God’s job to turn that confessional into a classroom wherein He teaches you wisdom about not only yourself but all other types of subjects.

Posted in Brokenness, Character, Confession, Individuality, Sanctification, Truth | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

When a Past Blessing Becomes a Present Problem

Posted on August 17, 2020 by russellmckinney

He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan. (2 Kings 18:4, N.K.J.V.)

The story of Israel’s bronze serpent begins during the Israelites’ years of wandering in the wilderness prior to their entrance into their promised land of Canaan. You’ll recall that God first brought the Israelites to the threshold of Canaan only a year or so after their exodus out of Egypt (Numbers 13:1-33). He wanted them to conquer the land at that time, but the group of twelve spies who were sent into Canaan to scout it out brought back news that the Canaanite races were fierce peoples who dwelt in fortified cities. Even worse, the spies said that some of the races were literal giants. That report convinced the people to refuse to take the land, and that cowardice and lack of faith angered God enough to cause Him to decree that the nation would put in forty years of wandering before He would bring them back to Canaan for another chance to claim it as their own (Numbers 14:26-38).

According to the closing verses of Numbers chapter 20 and the opening verses of Numbers chapter 21, one particularly busy stretch of those years saw the following events take place:

  • the death of Aaron (Moses’ brother and Israel’s first High Priest)
  • the installation of Aaron’s son Eleazar as the new High Priest
  • a pitched battle against the army of the Canaanite king Arad, a battle in which several of Israel’s soldiers were captured as prisoners of war
  • a follow-up battle against Arad and his army, a battle in which God gave the Israelites a resounding victory

On the heels of all these significant events, the Israelites became what the Bible describes as “discouraged on the way” (Numbers 21:4, N.K.J.V.). This discouragement prompted them to speak against not only their God-appointed leader Moses but also God Himself. Specifically, they were tired of eating nothing but the manna that God sent them to collect from the ground each morning. As Numbers 21:5 says:

And the people spoke against God and against Moses. “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread. (N.K.J.V.)

Such murmuring and complaining made the Israelites ripe for more chastisement from the hand of God, and He sent it by way of what the Bible calls “fiery serpents” that bit many of the Israelites and caused several of them to die (Numbers 21:6). At the very least these “fiery serpents” were some of the normal poisonous snakes of the area, but the description of them makes it sound as if they could have been somehow supernaturally energized by God. Whatever the serpents were, they had their desired effect upon the Israelites in that they caused the people to say to Moses, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us” (Numbers 21:7).

After Moses had prayed for the people, God did drive away the serpents. What remained, though, was the problem of all the people who still had the poison from the bites circulating through their veins. What was to become of those sick patients? God’s answer was to have Moses create a bronze serpent and set it up on a pole. Any Israelite who had been bitten by one of the fiery serpents and looked upward to the bronze serpent would be healed (Numbers 21:8-9). Centuries later Jesus used the story of the bronze serpent as a way of illustrating how He would one day be lifted up in dying on the cross (John 3:14-15).

Okay, end of story, right? Wrong. Rather than dispose of that bronze serpent as soon as all the bitten had been healed, the Israelites kept it and carried it around with them wherever they went. Even when they conquered Canaan and settled it many years later, they took the bronze serpent into the land with them. First, somewhere along the way they gave the serpent the name “Nehushtan,” which literally means “bronze thing” and is similar to nahash, the Hebrew word for “serpent.” Second, somewhere along the way the serpent was placed inside Solomon’s temple. Third, somewhere along the way they started burning incense to the serpent. We’re talking rank idolatry here! They took something good, a blessing that God had given them, and they made an idol out it.

It wasn’t until Hezekiah became the King of Judah, Israel’s southern kingdom, that the bronze serpent was finally destroyed. Hezekiah was a good king, and as part of his cleansing of his kingdom’s idolatry he broke the bronze serpent into pieces. That’s the happy part of the story. The sad part is that more than 700 years had passed between the time Hezekiah did that and the time Moses had first made the thing. Needless to say, that bronze serpent had far too long a shelf life.

The takeaway lesson for us is that we would all do well to ask God for the discernment to recognize when He is finished using some thing, some place, or some person in our lives. There’s a lesson here for our churches, too. Our congregations must resist the urge to remain chained to the past. Show me a congregation that isn’t using 21st century technology in its approach to ministry, and I’ll show you a congregation that has become far too comfortable living inside the confines of the wrong era. While our message about Jesus never changes, the methods by which we convey the message must sometimes.

So, tell me, are you right now hanging on to some “bronze serpent” that God would have you to move on from? I’m talking about some thing, some place, or some person that God once used as a great source of blessing in your life but now that usefulness is finished. Just as a good writer knows where to place a period and begin a new sentence, you should seek God’s wisdom in knowing where to place a period at the end of one season in your life and begin a new season. That “bronze serpent” that God once used so mightily in your life doesn’t have to become a “Nehushtan” that you worship. Like King Hezekiah, you can recognize when a leftover from your past has become a stumbling block to your future, and you can break away from the past by breaking away from the leftover.

Posted in Change, Choices, Christ's Death, Church, Church Attendance, Decisions, Discernment, God's Will, God's Work, Idolatry | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Price of a Miracle

Posted on August 15, 2020 by russellmckinney

Do you know about the popular website snopes.com? The site describes itself as “the internet’s definitive fact-checking resource.” It was founded by David Mikkelson and his wife Barbara in 1994 as a means whereby people can fact check stories and urban legends that seem a little too farfetched to be true. I have visited the site several times over the years in my attempts to verify some of the fantastical stories that permeate Christian sermons, devotional books, and websites. Sadly, I’ve found that many of the best stories, stories that a preacher or a writer could use to really make hay, simply never happened. I recently ran across one such story, called “The Price of a Miracle,” about a little girl who had a sick brother.

As the story goes, an eight-year-old girl (in some versions her name is “Tess”; in others it’s “Sally”) overhears her mother and father talking about her fatally ill little brother (in some versions he’s “Andrew”; in others he’s “Georgi”). The girl hears her father say about the brother, “Only a miracle can save him.” This prompts her to go to her bedroom, count the money in her piggybank, sneak out of the house, and carry her money down to the corner drugstore. (One version of the story goes into great detail about the drugstore being a Rexall’s Drug Store that was located six blocks away and had a big red Indian Chief sign above the door.)

After trying for several minutes to get the pharmacist’s attention, the little girl finally resorts to loudly banging a quarter on the counter. Annoyed, the pharmacist interrupts the conversation he is having with another man (in one version the other man is his brother from Chicago), walks over to the girl, and asks, “What do you want?” The little girl answers, “My brother is sick and is going to die. My daddy says only a miracle can save him. How much does a miracle cost?” With compassion in his voice, the pharmacist replies, “I’m sorry, we don’t sell miracles here.”

It is then that a well-dressed man (one version has him being the pharmacist’s brother from Chicago) who has overheard the conversation stoops down and asks the girl, “What kind of a miracle does your brother need?” “I don’t know,” she says, “I just know he’s really sick, needs a miracle, and my daddy can’t afford to pay for it.” “How much money do you have?” asks the man. “One dollar and eleven cents,” says the little girl, “but I can get more if I have to.” “What a coincidence,” says the man, “one dollar and eleven cents is the exact price for a miracle for little brothers.” The man then accompanies the little girl back to her home to see what kind of miracle the brother needs.

Then comes the grand reveal that the brother has a brain tumor, the man’s name is Dr. Carlton Armstrong, Armstrong is an imminent neurosurgeon, and he cures the boy by performing the operation for free. Later on, once the surgery is over and the brother is back home, the mother says, “That surgery was a real miracle. I wonder how much it would have cost.” The little girl just smiles because she knows exactly how much a miracle costs: one dollar and eleven cents.

If that story doesn’t tug at your heart strings, evidently you need to be restrung. I know that it tugged at mine when I first read it. I have to admit, though, that even as I read it the questions started flying in my mind: “Didn’t those parents have insurance?” “Couldn’t some type of payment plan have been worked out with the hospital?” “What kind of parents in the United States let their boy die for lack of medical treatment?” “What kind of parents let their eight-year-old girl wander through the city streets alone?” “What kind of pharmacist sees an eight-year-old girl in his pharmacy and doesn’t wonder where her parents are?” “Why did the girl assume that pharmacists sold miracles?” “Why did she associate surgery with a drugstore?”

The snopes.com staff point out that they’ve only turned up a couple of notable Carlton Armstrongs. One is a bass player for a group called the Vibe, and the other one was a man who blew up Sterling Hall (a building located on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus) thereby killing a physics researcher and injuring three other people. For the record, the latter didn’t even spell his name “Carlton” but rather “Karleton.” The site also questions why the little girl headed to a pharmacy to buy a miracle rather than head to a church to pray for one. Sarcastically, the site asks, “What denomination were these people, anyway? Pharmaceuticalian?”

Look, if “The Price of a Miracle” story pans out to be a true, I’ll happily recant this post and be the first to sing the praises of Dr. Carlton Armstrong, neurosurgeon. I’m certainly not anti little girl, anti sick brothers, or anti miracles. Furthermore, let me also say that God is plenty big enough to orchestrate events to cause such a story to occur. No one except an atheist would question that.

With these things understood, though, this post is a call for discernment. We Christians have got to start realizing that we make ourselves look foolish and cast doubt upon our Savior when we prove ourselves gullible enough to present syrupy fiction as solid fact. The lost person watches us fall for such drivel and assumes that all that jargon we present about Jesus, the cross, and heaven must be drivel, too.

Even God, in 1 Thessalonians 5:21, commands us to, “Test all things, hold fast what is good” (N.K.J.V.). Unfortunately, most Christians simply don’t want to put in the time and effort to do that testing. It is, after all, a whole lot easier to just read a tear-inducing story on the internet or in a book and run with the story as a tool to manipulate your audience into believing what you want them to believe. Of course, the problem with that is that our Savior actually called Himself, among other things, “the truth” (John 14:6). That being the case, how can we, the people who name His name, lazily traffic in untruths? How can we use made-up stories to convince others to follow Him? Asking the question bluntly, how can we expect lost people to believe what we say about Jesus when they can’t even believe what we say about little girls and doctors named Armstrong?

Posted in Communication, Discernment, Evangelism, God's Work, Lying, Preaching, Witnessing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Are You Doing What You Are Supposed to Be Doing Here?

Posted on August 12, 2020 by russellmckinney

Yogi Berra was the catcher for the New York Yankees. Hank Aaron was the right-fielder for the Milwaukee (now Atlanta) Braves. Both men would get elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame following their illustrious playing careers. As a famous story goes, though, they once had a memorable encounter during a 1957 World Series game between their teams.

Berra was well known as a talker, and his talking extended to conversations he would have with opposing batters as he sat in his catcher’s crouch. While it was true that Berra was naturally friendly, his conversations with batters had an ulterior motive. He figured that if he could keep a hitter distracted by talking, the hitter would stand less of a chance of being successful against Yankee pitching.

As the story goes, when Berra saw Aaron walking toward the batter’s box, Berra said out loud, “All right, Hank is getting ready to bat.” Berra hoped that Hank would take the bait by responding, but Hank didn’t say a word. Not deterred, Berra kept talking. He said, “Hank, you need to hold the bat so that you can read the words on the label. You’re gonna break that bat. You’ve got to be able to read the label.” Hank, however, without bothering to check the positioning of his bat, simply replied, “I didn’t come here to read.” ZING!!!

Every now and then each of us would do well to reflect upon our lives and ask, “Am I doing what I’m supposed to be doing here?” While anyone could benefit from such contemplation, the Christian actually has an exceptionally important responsibility in this area. You see, Christian, God saved you to be a servant not a sensation. If His sole purpose in saving you was to take your soul to heaven, He could have put you to death immediately following your salvation experience. But He didn’t do that. That must mean that He has work that He wants you to do for Him.

Acts 13:36 says that David “…served his own generation by the will of God…” (N.K.J.V.). In other words, David spent his time wisely. He didn’t waste it by doing stuff that wasn’t productive in terms of his service to God. The young David tended sheep, and he did that not just in service to his father but also in service to God. The teenage David played his harp, and he did that not just in service to King Saul but also in service to God. The teenage David defeated the giant Goliath, and he did that not just in service to Israel but also in service to God. King David united Israel’s twelve tribes, led the people in conquering Jerusalem, made the city Israel’s capital, and brought the Ark of the Covenant to the city, and he did all that not just in service to his nation but also in service to God. The elderly David secured the plans and the provisions that would enable Solomon to build the temple, and he did that not just in service to Solomon but also in service to God.

Was David perfect? Of course not. Did he sin? Absolutely. Not only could his resume list all his marvelous achievements, it could also list his adulterous affair with Bathsheba, his murder of Bathsheba’s husband Uriah, and his fateful decision to take a census of Israel. Each of those actions produced consequences that were absolutely devastating. Still, though, by God’s own assessment, David served his generation by the will of God. Shepherd boy? Check. Harp player? Check. Giant slayer? Check. Military conqueror? Check. King? Check. Organizer of Israel’s priestly order? Check. Organizer of Israel’s musicians and worship leaders? Check. Organizer of Israel’s military divisions? Check.  Psalm writer? Check. Temple designer? Check. Collector of the offering to fund the building of the temple? Check. The greatest human king Israel ever had? Check. Surely David couldn’t have accomplished all these things during his lifetime had he not constantly been about God’s business.

Christian, I’m not saying that you have to match David’s prolific body of service if you want your life to be pleasing to God. What I’m saying is that God has things that He wants you to do, deeds that have your personal name on them. He has “sheep” that He wants you to tend, “harps” that He wants you to play, “giants” that He wants you to defeat, “psalms” that He wants you to write, and “temples” that He wants you to envision.

You ask, “But how do I know what these things are?” Your answers naturally flow out of your prayer life. As you pray, make a regular point of asking God to burden you about the acts of service that He has in mind for you, and then look for the doors He opens so that you can perform those acts. Like David, do what you are on this earth to do: serve God according to His will. I assure you that the masses aren’t lining up to do that, and your generation needs every bit of help it can get from you.

Posted in Commitment, Discipleship, Doing Good, Faithfulness, God's Will, God's Work, Individuality, Ministry, Obedience, Prayer, Prayer Requests, Service, Spiritual Gifts, Talents | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment