The Gift of Life

Do you enjoy getting presents?  Receiving an item that you've had your eye on for days, months, or maybe even years is always thrilling.  I believe everyone would say that is something they enjoy.  For the past two years, I have spent as much time as I possibly can learning things about Ford trucks.  I'm obsessed with them!  The probability that my next vehicle will feature a blue oval somewhere on the body is pretty high (by the way, I LOVE getting gifts, and if anyone wants to give me an F-150 you're more than welcome).  But the point of this article is not to discuss Ford trucks.  It's much more important than that.  I want to offer a new outlook on life that has helped me tremendously.

I'm not ashamed to say that throughout my life since I was about 13 I've had bouts with depression and anxiety.  I don't believe it's a stretch to assume that I'm not alone in that struggle.  As some of you probably know all too well, it can be hard to get out of bed and enjoy anything when your down in the dumps.  You, like me, have probably tried many things in a failed attempt to remedy the situation.  What I want to offer today is a new way to look at life that will, Lord willing, enrich your life as much as it has mine.

Back to my original question, I love getting gifts.  The only thing I love more than getting my favorite gift is getting more than one of it.  Two boxes of Little Debbie's are better than one.  Two F-150's are better than one (sorry, couldn't resist).  You get the picture.  What is my point?  My point is that today is a gift!  Today is the most precious and perfect gift from the Almighty God.

The average life expectancy in the United States is around 78.75 years of age (I rounded up to 79 for this illustration).  79 years of life equals 28,835 days.  That's 28,835 of the greatest gifts you could ever be given.  I would be in "hog heaven" if I had 28,835 Ford F-150s.  Something so simple as life is often overlooked.  But it gets even better.  For the majority of people, the majority of those days are filled with good health and happiness.  I get happy just thinking about it.

Psalm 118:24 reads, "This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it." We have an amazing blessing to enjoy today! Let's get to it!

Prescription Worship

If you have high blood pressure, your doctor may prescribe you Lisinopril.  That is your prescription.  Legally you are not able to get any other medicine at the pharmacy than the Lisinopril on your prescription.  If you like another blood pressure medicine better, too bad!  Your doctor prescribed Lisinopril and that is what you are to take.  You are to take the correct mg at the time he prescribed you to take it.  I think that is something we all understand fairly well.  We understand the importance of taking the prescribed medicine at the right time with the correct dose.  Why then do we feel so much liberty to change the prescribed worship of God? David Platt, in his book Radical, poses this question:

"What if we take away the cool music and the cushioned chairs?  What if the screens are gone and the stage is no longer decorated? What if the air conditioning is off and the comforts are removed?  Would his word still be enough for his people to come to worship?"

The answer is "YES!" to whether or not the Word is still enough in this day and time! Unfortunately, if you take away the entertainment value, most people would abandon the church.  As A.W. Tozer noted in the 1960's, "Church members want to be entertained while they are edified."

If you attend most "churches" today, you will see all kinds of things: drums, guitars, flashing lights, smoke machines, etc.  It's hard to distinguish a church from a rock concert in a lot of the places.  My question is simple: can you find the prescription for all of these things in the Bible?  I invite you to look through the New Testament to try and find this prescription for church worship. 

Since none of those contemporary man-made ideas can be found, what can? (1) Prayer - Acts 2:42, (2) Breaking of bread - Acts 2:42, (3) Singing - Ephesians 5:19, (4) Preaching Christ - 2 Timothy 4:2; Acts 20:7, and finally (5) Giving of our means 2 Corinthians 8:9.

We have the prescription -- why would we want to deviate from it?

3 Things About God

How often do you dwell on the God?  What I mean is his existence, character, and being.  The truth is, I don't think about God as much as I should.  I want to quickly discuss 3 truths in regards to our God.

1. God is Real

According to the latest Pew Research Poll on the demography of Religion in America, roughly 17% of the population either don't affiliate with any religion (atheist, agnostic, etc.) or don't know/refuse to identify.  Those numbers are disturbing.  What that says is that nearly 1 out of every 5 Americans have some kind of doubt about the existence of God. The good news is that we can use our logic to prove his existence.

 

Cause and Effect

Everything that happens must have a cause.  Simple enough, right? Science has all but proven that the universe has not existed forever. Dr. Robert Jastrow, a leading scientist at NASA, declared that "modern science denies an eternal existence to the universe."

If it is a fact that the universe has not always been here, then how did it come into being? We are left with 2 possibilities: (a) it created itself, or (b) it was created by something else not made of matter. Due to the Law of Conservation of Mass, we know that matter cannot be created or destroyed.  Option (a) is now off the table and we are left solely with option (b). 

 

Design

Take out your cell phone.  What are the chances, would you say, that your phone was assembled by random natural processes?  You're probably thinking, "that would be impossible, you big dummy," and you'd be right!  Our phones are based off of an intricate plan created by a designed, and then assembled by skilled workers who are familiar with the design.  Any modern luxury that we have works entirely the same way.  Why then do we try to force that illogical thinking on our universe?

 

 2. God Loves Us

For the sake of time, I will just quote one verse that says it all:

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:8, ESV)

 

3. God Has Communicated With Us

We've established that God is real, and that he loves us.  It is only logical with that being the case that he has communicated with us.  He has spoken to us in two ways: (a) through nature, and (b) through his word.

 

Through Nature

We can look around and see the beauty of our Lord.  The trees and grass so green, the blue of the skies.  His glory is everywhere throughout the natural world.  The Apostle Paul took note of this great fact in Romans 1:20,

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

 

Through His Word

Think about it: the Bible is composed of 66 books united in perfect harmony and was written over a span of some 1500-2000 years with several different authors.  It is truly amazing the evidence our God has given to us for his existence.

Misogyny in the Lord's Church

There is a misconception out there that we in the Lord's church believe, teach, and practice misogyny in our worship.  Not only does this greatly hurt me personally, it is totally false.  I believe that both women and men are completely equal in all ways and are both created in the image of the Almighty.  My grandmother was the most godly woman I have ever met.  She never led in public worship in any shape, form, or fashion in her nearly 85 years of life here on this earth; yet she was far better than I, as a preacher, could ever dream of being!  My fiance, Staci, is also a much better person and follower of Christ than I ever hope to be.  I am surrounded by so many godly and wonderful women. 

However, the Bible is clear on the role of men and women in worship:

¹¹ Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. ¹² I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. ¹³ For Adam was formed first, then Eve; ¹⁴ and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. (1 Timothy 2:11-14, English Standard Version)

³³ For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints, ³⁴ the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. ³⁵ If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. (1 Corinthians 14:33-35, English Standard Version)

With that being said, do I like what Scripture teaches in regards to this subject? No, I don't like it.  Would I have done it differently had I been in charge? Probably.  Could some women do better than some men if they were to preach? No doubt.  My grandmother could've done much more for the kingdom in a leadership position than I ever can.  My fiance Staci, would be a much better preacher and teacher than I am.  But, it does not matter what I like or don't like, or what I agree or disagree with.  God laid out his plan, gave his commands, and I'm going to do my best to be completely obedient regardless of my own personal feelings.  God's commands supercede my feelings.  Unfortunately, it seems like many people have forgotten this fact.

Further, my grandmother's life of love, kindness, and servitude to Christ was far more valuable than anything that will ever come from the pulpit.  She led in other ways: Ladies' Day, Ladies' Classes, etc.  Just because God assigned women a different role in worship does not mean they are inferior to men in any way whatsoever.  Children have a special bond with their mother in a way they will never have with their father because their mother carried them for nine months.  As a father, I'll never be able to have that maternal bond with my kids.  I would love to bond with my kids at that level.  Does the fact that God gave women the ability to bear children and not men mean that men are inferior to women? Not at all, he just assigned us different roles!

Finally, Paul elaborates in 1 Timothy 2 on the reason why God assigned different roles for men and women in the church:

¹³ For Adam was formed first, then Eve; ¹⁴ and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.

It's not some ancient culture's misogynistic conception of deity that designed worship order in this way.  It is the simple fact that: (a) Adam was formed first (and then God saw that is was not good that he should be alone, and he formed Eve [Genesis 2:18]) and (b) Eve was deceived by the serpent to partake of the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, whereas Adam was not.

Women and men are completely and unequivocally equal.  Women are of utmost importance and value. I hope I have cleared this matter up.  May God bless you all. 

For further reading on this subject, I highly recommend Wes McAdams' wonderful article over at RadicallyChristian.com: "I'm Tired of People Demeaning Women in the Church."

You Don't Know Your Bible

…And neither do I.  Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “know” in this manner: “to apprehend clearly and with certainty” (emp. mine). But don’t tell that to 17-year-old Jonathan.  He would’ve had you to believe he was a top-notch biblical scholar.  I look back at those times and I laugh.  I knew so little, yet I boasted so greatly.  School peers would discuss religion and I would interject in a matter-of-fact manner with a know-it-all attitude.  The thought of my arrogance disgusts me.  Fast forward nearly 8 years, a bachelor’s degree in Bible, 3 years of ministry experience later, and I still know very little about the Word of God.

However, I’m not alone.  You are all in the same boat as I am.  The English Bible has 1,189 chapters, 31,173 verses, and 807,361 words.¹  There is not a single person alive who knows (or can know) every single thing there is to know about the Bible.  Why do I bring this up? Simple: to believe you truly know the Bible is arrogant.  I’m sure everyone of you have encountered a preacher who thinks they have the final authority on biblical interpretation, and that anyone who disagrees with them is inferior. 

Am I arguing that all people have equal knowledge of the Bible? No, I am not meaning to imply that at all.  Am I arguing that it is impossible to be a student of the Word and have great familiarity with it? Absolutely not!  What I am arguing is that we must avoid having an arrogant and boastful attitude about how much we “know” the Bible, because then it becomes a matter of our personal ego.  What I am advocating is humility as we study the Word and grow as servants of Christ.  Both Testaments make frequent reference to an arrogant of proud spirit:

Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. (1 Samuel 2:3)

As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. (James 4:16)

Let us all avoid boasting in our biblical knowledge, and with humility spend more time in the Scripture. There more I study and learn from the greatest of all books, the more I realize how little I know.

____________________________

¹  The Open Bible: New American Standard. Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1977. p. 1227.

Death Is The End

Ask the majority of scientists, scholars, and doctors and you will receive a resounding affirmation that death is the end and resurrection is impossible.  Human beings unfortunately have not changed much in 2,000 years.  Apparently this same false teaching was spreading through some in the Corinthian church.  The Apostle Paul devotes the entirety of 1 Corinthians 15 to this topic. 

He reminds his readers of the gospel that he had preached to them (and that we in the 21st century have heard as well).  It is by this gospel that we are being saved, and it is to this gospel that we are to stay true (v. 2).  The next argument employed appeals to human reason:

1.     If there is no such thing as resurrection of the dead, then Jesus Christ can’t have been raised (v. 13)

2.     If Jesus Christ hasn’t been raised, we are all (past, present, and future) wasting our time (v. 14)

3.     If Jesus Christ hasn’t been raised, we are all still just as dead in sin as before his crucifixion (v. 17)

4.     If Jesus Christ hasn’t been raised, then once you’re dead you’re dead, and we are to be pitied even more than the rest of mankind (vv. 18-19)

Fortunately, Christ has conquered the grave!  We’ve all lost loved ones in our lives.  I recently lost my grandmother.  Death takes us all for a time.  Think about that: you, your mother, your father, your siblings, your friends, everyone that you have ever known, will know or come into contact with at any point in your life will die at some point.  If Christ had not been resurrected, this would be a great cause of mourning. 

Paul reminds us that Christ indeed has been resurrected.  One of my favorite verses in all of scripture is when he loosely quotes Hosea 13:14 and personifies death:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.  O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55, ESV)

Death may take us for a time, but thanks to the resurrection of Christ, one day all who are in Christ will rise up in victory.  Death has no power, no weapon against those in Christ.  If you are not in Christ, what are you waiting for?

If God Is Not Important

Image courtesy: Google Images

At times, it is difficult to prioritize our lives and focus on what is truly important amidst the chaos of our daily lives.  However, God has provided us with all of the information we need in His word to put our life in order. In 2 Corinthians 4:18 the Apostle Paul writes, “as we look not to things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.  For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”  We shouldn’t put temporary things ahead of eternal things.  

 

Fortunately, God tells his people what the eternal things are that should be at the top of their priorities.  The Hebrews writer states in Hebrews 12:1-2, 

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

We need to examine our priorities on a regular basis.  If sports, television, money, a job, school, or anything else takes precedence over the cross of Christ then we need to adjust what we place value on in this life.