07.21.10
Posted in Church, Missions at 2:29 pm by Administrator
When I first entered the pastorate one of the Biblical subjects that I was rather fearful of addressing was the issue of money. This was due to the abuse of this subject in basically every religious circle. Over time I’ve gotten over this as I’ve learned that money answers all things and that what a man does with his money is related to his spirituality and his love for God. The following outline is an excerpt from a lesson that I taught in a Local Church class at a nearby Bible Institute. It’s on the subject of money and missions and briefly addresses the Biblical philosophy of Faith Promise giving.
I. Money (1 Cor 16:1-2)
A. Principles of Giving:
i. Our giving should be through the local church (“to the churches” v. 1). Not television ministries, not parachurch ministries, not ecclesiastical organizations.
ii. Our giving should be regular (“Upon the first day of the week” v. 2). Obviously the early church had a practice of gathering together on the first day of the week, but one of the plain, scriptural reasons for going to church on Sunday is to give.
iii. Our giving should be systematic (“let everyone of you lay by him in store” v. 2).
iv. Our giving should be proportionate (“as God hath prospered him” v. 2). If you have more you should give more.
B. The Concept of Tithing
i. Not a New Testament Command: If you’re an honest dispensationalist then you’ll readily admit that tithing is not an overt New Testament instruction. We’re under grace as opposed to law and as such there’s no compulsion when it comes to giving and that includes a tithe. However, tithing is an Old Testament practice that satisfies each one of these New Testament principles, so it is a tool that NT believers should use to discipline themselves to give.
ii. A Great Place to Start: Tithing, however, is simply a starting for place the New Testament believer. Because we’re not under the Law, the tithe is a lousy place to stop. If that Old Testament Jew could give ten percent of his livestock and his crops without having his sins taken away by the blood of Christ, without the certainty of heaven, and without the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit, than a tithe is the absolute least that we can do. I’ve heard tithing described as “the training wheels of giving” and I think this is an appropriate description.
II. Missions (Phil 4:14-19, 2 Cor 8:1-12)
A. Giving to Missions:
i. The Philippians are Supporting a Missionary: Paul is an apostle in the sense of having the signs and wonders and special authority conferred upon him for the establishment of the church. But he is likewise an apostle in the sense of a missionary. Apostle is “sent one”. He and Barnabas are referred to as prophets and teachers in Acts 13:1 and its only after they’re sent out by the church at Antioch that they’re referred to as apostles (Acts 4:4). (See also Silas called a prophet in Acts 15:32, sent out in 15:40, then called an apostle in 1 Thessalonians 1:1.)
ii. Supporting Missions Comes with a Promise: There’s a special Bible promise for those that give sacrificially to missions and missionaries (Phil 4:19). I have rarely heard this verse quoted in its context. It is not addresses to rich, selfish Americans in a media-induced recession, it is addressed to people who have given out of their poverty to support the work of the gospel.
B. Faith Promise Missions:
iii. A Great Way for Most Churches to do More: There are enough churches doing little to nothing to support missions that we need to be sure to do all that we can to make up for their lack (Phil 2:30, 4:15). Faith Promise is simply a tool to do all that we can.
ii. Faith Promise in the Bible: We take the concept of Faith Promise giving from Second Corinthians chapter eight.
a. Purpose: Their must be a clear appreciation of the church’s purpose. We’re not here simply to maintain, we’re here to see the gospel go out and the Great Commission is bigger than the town in which we live.
1. The churches of Macedonia had such a strong sense of the needs beyond their own that they apparently gave more, practically speaking, than they should have been able to give (v. 2).
2. Their missions program wasn’t simply a line on their budget based on their anticipated income.
b. Principle: Their needs to be an intelligent communication of the principle. We’re not after some emotional commitment that you can’t possibly keep. Every kind of giving (including Faith promise) is according to that a man hath (8:12) and is to be willing and not of necessity (8:12, 9:7).
1. By faith you make a promise. It’s not complicated. Most people purchase or rent a home or buy a car on the same principle. You agree to pay so much every so often to live in that house or drive that car and you do so by faith.
c. Promise: Once you reasonably communicate the principle you encourage the people to make a promise.
1. The church at Corinth made a promise to give so much to the relief of the saints a year prior to Paul arranging for its collection.
2. We have an annual conference and encourage our people to seek the Lord in prayer about what they should do for missions every week for the next twelve months.
d. Performance: The promise may be the exciting part, but the most important aspect of Faith Promise missions is the performance of that promise.
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07.19.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 7:45 am by Administrator
In a message entitled “As Jesus Passed By,” Bob Jones Sr. gave the following illustration:
A story is told of a traveler in a far-away country who had spent most of his time. He was getting ready to leave, but he decided to climb a certain mountain. He secured a guide and they started off together. The man stopped for a moment in the valley and watched a little stream playing over some pebbles. The grass was green. The scene was beautiful. The guide climbed up the mountain side and told the man to follow him. He did as he was bidden and stopped where the guide was standing. He said, ‘I wish I had come on here at first. I thought the valley was beautiful, but this is the grandest spot I ever saw.’ The guide kept climbing and said, ‘Follow me now.’ When he had gone to the point where the guide was then standing he said, ‘I wish I had not stopped down yonder. This scene is more beautiful than that.’ Thus they climbed on and on, and at every step the sight-seer was overwhelmed. They reached the top of the mountain; they stood on a projecting rock; they watched the mountain peaks, the landscapes beyond them, and the mountain which stood behind them; and the man said to the guide, ‘I wish I had come here at first, for there is no spot on earth so beautiful as this. My time is out and I will have to go. I would like to spend hours on this peak.’
Bob Jones went on to say, “When I was eleven years old Christ came in to the valley; He touched me and said, ‘Follow me.’ I said, ‘Not now. Let me play in the little stream of pleasure; this is good enough for me.’ But He said, ‘I will show you scenes grander than any you have ever beheld.’ I said, ‘Sometime I will go.’ He said, ‘Come now.’ I hesitated for a moment, then started with Him. The first step was made, and oh, what a joy filled my heart! That was a dream, a vision of heaven. Since then I have gone higher, I feel sure, and every step has brought grander sights to my vision and sublimer joys to my heart. Let us walk to the sun-lit summit to be fanned by zephyrs from the wings of angels, and from the mountain top we will read ‘our titles clear to mansions in the sky.’”
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07.01.10
Posted in Books at 4:37 am by Administrator
“If religious books are not widely circulated among the masses in this country, I do not know what is going to become of us as a nation. If truth be not diffused, error will be; if God and His Word are not know and received, the devil and his works will gain the ascendancy; if the evangelical volume does not reach every hamlet, the pages of a corrupt and licentious literature will; if the power of the gospel is not felt throughout the length and breadth of the land, anarchy and misrule, degradation and misery, corruption and darkness, will reign without mitigation or end.” –Daniel Webster, 1823
Following is a list of the top twenty books that I’ve read that have served to shape my thinking and edify me spiritually. I’ve made some effort to place them in order, but this is difficult given the diverse subject-matter covered.
My Reading List (Top Twenty)
- For His Pleasure – Samuel Gipp
- Psalm 119 – Jeff Adams
- The Saving Life of Christ – Major Ian Thomas
- To Train Up a Child – Michael Pearl
- Foxe’s Book of Martyrs – John Foxe
- What Hath God Wrought – William Grady
- Simple Social Graces – Linda Lichter
- Embraced by the Cross – L.E. Maxwell
- The Law and Dispensationalism Reconsidered – James W. Knox
- New Age Bible Versions – Gail Riplinger
- Henry and the Great Society – H.L. Roush
- Dispensational Truth – Clarence Larkin
- The Sure Word of Prophecy – Peter S. Ruckman
- The Kneeling Christian – Anonymous
- The Gospel of John – Arthur W. Pink
- A Tale of Three Kings – Gene Edwards
- Family Driven Faith – Voddie Baucham Jr.
- The Embrace of Grace – Caleb Thompson
- The Normal Christian Life – Watchman Nee
- Thoughts for Young Men – J.C. Ryle
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06.30.10
Posted in Books, Missions at 4:14 pm by Administrator
The late A.W. Tozer stated, “Next to the Holy Scriptures, the greatest aid to the life of faith may be Christian biographies.”
My personal experience bears this observation out and the reading of Christian biographies has been the greatest encouragement to our family’s missionary interest and zeal. Our family has read around thirty Christian biographies together over the last two years, most of them from the “Christian Heroes Then and Now” series by Janet and Geoff Benge. I feel certain that alongside church-attendance and scripture-reading itself, this has done more to shape the spiritual and evangelistic thinking of our family than anything else. Here are a list of some great personalities that every Christian should read about:
- George Muller
- Adoniram Judson
- C.T. Studd
- William Carey
- Hudson Taylor
- David Livingstone
- A.N. Groves
- John Paton
- Rowland Bingham
- Richard Wurmbrand
- Nait Saint
- Count Zinzendorf
- Fanny Crosby
- John Wesley
- Corrie Ten Boom
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Posted in Books at 4:03 pm by Administrator
One of the great pieces of counsel that the Apostle Paul handed down to his beloved son in the faith Timothy was this: “Till I come give attendance to reading…”
Here are some book and author recommendations:
Essential Reference Works
- Strong’s Concordance
- Webster’s 1828 Dictionary
- The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
- The Scofield Study Bible – C.I. Scofield
- The Companion Bible – Ethelbert Bullinger
- Chronology of the Old Testament – Floyd Nolan Jones
Great Family Reading
- Boyhood and Beyond – Bob Schultz
- Christian Heroes Now and Then (Biography Series) – Janet and Geoff Benge
- Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis
- Pilgrim’s Progress – John Bunyan
Good Books on the Bible Issue
- The Answer Book: A Helpbook for Christians – Samuel Gipp
- New Age Bible Versions – Gail Riplinger
- The Christian’s Handbook of Manuscript Evidence – Peter S. Ruckman
- God Only Wrote One Book – J.J. Ray
Some of the Best General Biblical Writers
- C.H. Mackintosh
- J. Sidlow Baxter
- W. Graham Scroggie
- Alan Redpath
- Watchman Nee
- Arthur W. Pink
Books on Dispensationalism
- Dispensational Truth – Clarence Larkin
- The Law – James W. Knox
- One Book Rightly Divided – Douglas Stauffer
- Bible Believer’s Guide to Dispensationalism – David Walker
- Bible Believing Dispensationalism – Timothy Rose
The Definitive Book on Soul-Winning
The School of Biblical Evangelism – Ray Comfort
A Book Every Woman Should Read
Created to Be His Helpmeet – Debie Pearl
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06.29.10
Posted in Discernment, Outreach at 9:10 am by Administrator
We have had a host of run-ins of late with Jehovah’s Witnesses as we’ve sought to engage our community in public evangelism. Sadly, the JWs are about the only religious group that is actually beating the bushes in our area. On one Friday while street preaching I was approached by a Brewton Police Officer. When I asked the female officer about her religious background she informed me that, though she had gone to a Baptist Church at one time, she was presently studying with the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The very next morning myself and Bro. Mike spent two very frustrating hours dealing with a JW that we had once preached to in the jail. That very same day Bro. Kyle and Ms. Kim got tied up with another JW while distributing tracts at a local Airport Open-House. Most recently while at the county jail for ministry visits the JWs were there dealing with a man that had once come to our church services on Tuesday nights. The Watchtower Society’s false gospel is continually taking men and women captive in our area. It became clear that we as a church must do something to counter-attack this spiritual wickedness in our town.
The way that we undertook this was by carrying out a bulk mailing outreach last week. We sent out 2,677 mailings warning people of the Watchtower Society. We had the help of 35 Christians that helped to stuff the envelopes and attach the labels on a Sunday nights. Included in each envelope was a short note of explanation, a simple gospel tract entitled “The Way to Heaven,” and James Melton’s excellent pamphlet entitled “The Plain Truth about the Jehovah’s Witnesses”. You can view that pamphlet by clicking here. On Sunday Morning there were three watchtower magazines laying at the door of the church, so there’s no doubt they’ve made their way in to mailboxes all over Brewton.
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Posted in Bible at 8:56 am by Administrator
We’ll begin offering some local church Bible institute classes beginning in September. The classes will meet on Monday and Thursday nights beginning September 13th at the church. The classes being offered in this first semester will be Old Testament Survey, Gospel of John (two nights), and Manuscript Evidence. We intend to offer two semesters of classes annually that will provide a thorough Bible education over a three-year course of study.
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06.16.10
Posted in Bible, Discernment at 4:27 pm by Administrator
The practice of cremation, or the incineration of the body, has become increasingly popular in our society as frugal, practical Americans have wearied of the after-death racket of fancy caskets and pricey burial plots. But as with all matters, believers ought to seek out the mind of the Lord in the pages of scripture as to the disposal of the body after this life over. In truth, the matter of cremation versus burial is not one in which the Christian is left to his own fancy, or even the dictates of his own conscience; it is, rather, an issue on which the Bible has a good deal to say.
The Divine Precedent
The question we must ask is, “How would God go about disposing of a human body?” The answer to this question can be easily answered from the scripture. There is one place in the Bible where God Almighty conducted a funeral. The scene is set forth in Deuteronomy 34 and the deceased is the Lord’s servant Moses. Moses died “according to the word of the LORD” (v. 5) and then you’re told that God buried him. No one assisted in these arrangements for no one knew where his sepulcher was located (v.6). Granted, funeral expense was not an issue, but God could just as easily burnt the body as buried it, yet he chose the latter.
Perhaps an even more salient example would be the Lord Jesus Christ. The details of his burial were not happenchance, but the careful fulfillment of an age-old prophetic plan (Isa 53:9). When God came to earth in a body of flesh He chose to be buried, and so significant is this detail that it stands out as one of three distinct parts in the definition of “the gospel” as disclosed by the Apostle Paul (1 Cor 15:3-4). When we apply the popular test of “What would Jesus do?” in this matter the answer is clear.
If the question be asked, “Did God ever practice cremation?” the answer is yes, in a way. He burnt the bodies of the inhabitants of Sodom in Genesis 19. He burnt Nadab and Abihu when they offered “strange fire” in Leviticus 10. He saw that Achan and his household were burnt with fire following the sin that led to Israel’s defeat at Ai (Joshua 7:25). The Lord even commanded that those guilty of incest or whoredom be burnt in Leviticus 20:14 and 21:9. In each of these cases the fire from God represents His judgment as it does throughout the scripture. To have the body burnt in hell is the eternal lot of the lost soul (Matt 10:28), and for whatever convenience an urn with ashes may afford I’m reminded that the conversion of the body to dust is the result of the curse upon man for sin (Gen 3:19).
There’s not a single Biblical example where any saint or patriarch chose to have their body burned after death. In fact, the burials of the patriarchs seem to be an important theme beginning with Abraham’s family right on to the burial of Joseph (Joshua 24:32). This stands in stark contrast to what appears to be the essentially pagan practice of cremation. The practice of causing one’s seed to pass through the fire was a distinctively idolatrous exercise originating among the heathen (2 Chron 28:3, 33:6, etc). The Lord even pronounces a curse upon Moab for his practice of cremation according to Amos 2:1-3.
The Defining Principle
For the believer the issue is of even greater consequence simply because our body does not belong to us. Our bodies belong to God, in life (Rom 12:1) and in death (1 Thess 4:16), and this possession was obtained at a great price (1 Cor 6:19). When speaking prophetically of His own death and resurrection, the Lord Jesus compared his body to a seed in John 12. The seed only bears fruit upon falling in to the ground and dying (12:24). This is why the burial of Jesus Christ was so significant. It was an empty tomb, not a missing heap of ashes, that testified to His victory over death. Likewise, the believer’s body is compared to a seed in 1 Corinthians 15. The context is the resurrection and five times in that passage you’re told that this seed is sown (15:35-44). Seeds are for planting, not burning. The point to all of this is that cremation simply does not look forward to the resurrection. Obviously, this is not to say that the charred remains of saints can not be put back together by the power of God, for many a believer has given his life at the stake for the very cause of a resurrected Savior. However, death is not the end of God’s plan and purpose for this earthly tabernacle. Though this body be ever so vile and sinful, some day it shall be transformed, fashioned like unto His glorious body (Phil 3:20-21). With that in mind a proper burial becomes a distinctively Christian practice, for if the scripture be true, there will likely be those that stand over our empty grave some day, even as others looked in to an empty tomb nearly two-thousand years ago, and the only explanation will be, “He is not here, for he is risen”!
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06.15.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 2:55 pm by Administrator
In the midst of an address about Pharaoh’s compromises, C.H. Mackintosh, the 19th century Irish Bible-teacher gave an enlightening discourse on the subject of “narrow-mindedness”. Reproduced from the work entitled The Mackintosh Treasury, his thoughts are reproduced below:
“And here let us just offer a word, in passing, as to the subject of “narrowness,” about which we hear so much now-a-days. The real question is, “Who is to fix the boundaries of the Christian’s faith? Is it man or God — human opinion or divine revelation?” When this question is answered, the whole matter is easily settled. There are some minds terribly scared by the bugbear of “narrow-mindedness.” But then we have to inquire what is narrowness, and what breadth of mind? Now, what we understand by a narrow mind is simply a mind which refuses to take in and be governed by the whole truth of God. A mind governed by human opinions, human reasonings, worldly maxims, Selfish interests, Self will. This we unhesitatingly pronounce to be a narrow mind.
“On the other hand, a mind beautifully subject to the authority of Christ — a mind that bows with reverent submission to the voice of Holy Scripture — a mind that sternly refuses to go beyond the written Word — that absolutely rejects what is not based upon “Thus saith the Lord” — this is what we call a broad, elevated mind.
“Reader, is it not — must it not be so? Is not God’s Word — His mind, infinitely more comprehensive, wide, and full than the mind and ways of man? Is there not infinitely greater breadth in the Holy Scriptures than in all the human writings under the sun? Does it not argue more largeness of heart, and devotion of soul to be governed by the thoughts of God than by our own thoughts or the thoughts of our fellows? It seems to us there can be but one reply to these questions; and hence the entire subject of narrowness resolves itself into this simple but very telling motto, “We must be as narrow as Christ, and as broad as Christ.”
“We must view everything from this blessed standpoint, and then our entire range of vision will be correct, and our conclusions thoroughly sound. But if Christ be not our standpoint, but self, or man, or the world, then our entire range of vision is false, and our conclusions thoroughly unsound.”
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06.12.10
Posted in Missions, Outreach, Soul-Winning at 1:24 pm by Administrator
The most anticipated sporting event in the world got kicked off on June 11th in South Africa, the 2010 FIFA World Cup of Soccer (or “Football” for the rest of the world). As hundreds of thousands of fans converged on the large cities of South Africa to view the many national soccer match-ups a devoted band of Bible-believing Christians from various parts of Africa hit the streets to preach and pass out gospel literature to the many nations that had come to them for this mother-of-all-sporting-events. Our church provided for the shipping expense of getting 10,000 soccer-themed Chick tracts to South Africa for the occasion. The local brethren on the ground in Johannesburg (where this company of believers are rallying) were working on getting tens of thousands of more cartoon tracts in various languages printed locally for the occasion. I’m looking forward to hearing from Bro. Dobbins (Zambia) and Bro. Fluech (Malawi) as to how this outreach went. As you see the World Cup highlights on the news remember to pray for these folks as they literally get the gospel in to the hands of the “world” that has traveled to South Africa.
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