Bible: May 2008 Archives

So another pastor in Chicago just can’t remain focused on God during his time in the pulpit. This time the point of wrath is Hillary Clinton. We’ve commented on the bizarre nature of pastors losing focus in the pulpit before when the Jeremiah Wright controversy came up, and this is more of the same. Why can’t pastors stick to teaching the Word of God?

It’s not the content (he’s free to be in the tank for Obama if he wishes), it’s where he chooses to express his views; is ranting about Hillary the best use of pulpit time for Mr. Pfleger? When speaking from the pulpit, he’s representing God Himself — does Reverend Pfleger want us to believe God is pro-Obama and anti-Hillary? Is Reverend Pfleger putting words in God’s mouth? Fools rush in where …. oh nevermind.

I certainly wouldn’t want to be in the Reverend Pfleger’s position explaining before God why he felt this was the best use of his sermon time — attacking Hillary trumped all other issues (sin, salvation, hell)? Me thinks a loooong and uncomfortable discussion for Mr. Pfleger awaits.

Even the Catholic Church agrees his campaigning is incorrect:

The Catholic Church does not endorse political candidates. Consequently, while a priest must speak to political issues that are also moral, he may not endorse candidates nor engage in partisan campaigning.

Some may say we’re being picky, yet misrepresenting God is a serious issue. When Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt, while traveling in the desert they needed water. God gave Moses directions (Exodus 17), Moses follows and the water comes forth. But fast-forward a period of time and a similar event occurs (Numbers 20), but this time with different results.

And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts. (Numbers 20:7-11 KJV)

But this time Moses didn’t exactly follow God’s instructions (he hit the rock instead of speaking to it, and displayed anger to the people). But was God angry? Certainly you can understand Moses’ feelings after being with these people for a long time listening to their complaining, but he failed to follow God’s instructions, and even took credit for God’s work (“must we fetch water for you”). Dangerous territory.

Moses misrepresented God, and ended up in the penalty box for it.

And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them (Numbers 20:12 KJV)

Misrepresenting God is a big deal. Whatever a person wants to do politically is their own business, but when representing God it’s best to stick to His Words and avoid political attacks if for no other reason than there’s more important things to talk about.

It’s a sad day when pastors feel politics is more important than God’s Word.

One of the basic questions of life is “How did I get here”? Either evolution is correct (from the goo to the zoo to you) and the universe came into being from nothing by itself, or some god or other being created the universe and life.

If you accept the existence of God, you’ve got answers to life’s basic questions (Why am I here? Where did I come from? Where am I going?). But for the evolutionist, answering the question of where we came from raises two basic possibilities for the creation of the universe:

1. The universe is eternal.
2. The universe had a beginning.

An eternal universe isn’t accepted much anymore (perhaps Carl Sagan was its last proponent when he said “The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be”) — the discovery of an expanding universe crushed the eternal universe idea; most scientists believe the universe is around 15 billion years old (in a nice round number). Of course, that means the universe had a beginning — a time existed when there was nothing (no space, time or matter). Then how did the universe come into existence?

MP3 Audio for chapter 12 in our continuing Daniel study is now available on our main page for Daniel at http://www.dyeager.org/daniel/. Study given May 26, 2008.

This concludes the audio portion of the study, keep checking back for the notes.

We frequently hear of maintaining “unity” in the church — a worthy goal, is it not? Yes, it’s true Christians shouldn’t quibble over petty doctrinal differences (like dunking forward or backward during baptism), yet a move is afoot which, while sounding thoroughly orthodox, proves quite dangerous and not even Christian as it seeks to pervert Christianity into something else, all while using the same vocabulary as traditional Christianity.

This movement doesn’t try and hide their goal, drawing away many ungrounded in the foundational doctrines of Christianity — or who desire to appear intellectual and fit in with the crowd.

The minister at Toronto’s West Hill United Church, Rev. Gretta Vosper, does not teach her congregation to recite the Apostle’s Creed. She does not believe that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit or born of a virgin. She does not believe that Jesus rose again from the dead or ascended into heaven… or most of the basic tenets of Biblical Christianity. In fact, when her congregation sings famous hymns, the references to Christ and God are removed. Yet, Ms. Vosper calls herself a “Christian” and runs a church in one of Canada’s largest Protestant denominations.

Ms. Vosper believes that all that stuff about resurrection and miracles and the forgiveness of sins is something the Christian Church has to get past in order to make it in the 21st Century world. To her, the essence of Christianity is about loving your neighbor. She therefore follows some of the teachings of Christ — according to her preferred interpretation of those teachings. The rest of his message, about dying for our sins, rising again on the third day, and being one with the Father, those must be things she just ignores.

On the other hand, famous evangelical theologian J.I. Packer has recently cut his ties with the Anglican Church of Canada because a significant portion of its liberal leadership has become heretical. He is not alone in his concern. … A chasm has steadily grown between those who hold conservative, Bible-based beliefs and those who affirm more liberal, man-centered views. (Unity v. Truth in the Apostate Church)

Ms. Vosper may be an extreme example (or maybe not), but churches overflow with this cancer as so-called “Christians” abandon Christianity for a mix of political correctness, new-age philosophy, and a deep-rooted desire to meld with the world and its philosophical, educational and political views. This heretical apostasy (a falling away from Biblical Christianity) Paul warned against would come before the return of Jesus (which the heretics deny anyway).

Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, except there come the falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 KJV)

Satan wants to cause FUD (a TLA [three letter acronym] known in the computer industry — standing for Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) among God’s people. When the Israelites left Egypt traveling towards the promised land, just before they were to enter in they sent twelve spies to search out the land. Ten returned with bad news — there were giants in the land, and we are no match for them. Two of them said God is with us, it’s no problem, let’s go in and take it. But Israel succumbed to satan’s old trick, FUD. Therefore, they wandered for 40 years, and their children were the ones to enter into the land.

Sadly, one of the biggest areas of FUD in the church today surrounds baptism. Is it required for salvation? If so, sprinkled or dunked? Must a priest perform it to be valid? From what church? Is the water consecrated or not? Mention baptism and these are just some of the issues to be addressed; baptism can be a highly charged topic. Unfortunately, it has led to the division of many churches and people in Christianity — this ought not to be (some of the nastiest email we get is from Christians on this very subject).

The following can easily cause FUD in the church today.

Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38 KJV)

That’s it! You MUST be baptized to be saved. If you haven’t been baptized, you are not saved. Is this the correct interpretation of this passage? Does the Bible teach baptism is required for salvation? In order to understand the Bible’s teaching on baptism, we must first lay out a few “ground rules” for Bible interpretation.

Satan wants to cause FUD (a TLA [three letter acronym] known in the computer industry — standing for Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) among God’s people. For example, when the Israelites left Egypt and traveled towards the promised land, just before they were to enter in they sent in twelve spies to search out the land. Ten returned with bad news — there were giants in the land, and we are no match for them. Two of them said God is with us, it’s no problem, let’s go in and take it. But Israel succumbed to satan’s old trick, FUD. Therefore, they wandered for 40 years, and their children were the ones to enter into the land.

This has important implications for today’s Christian. For what does the promised land represent? If you say heaven, you’re not quite right — there are giants to defeat, and many battles. No, the promised land represents the spirit filled life; some battles still remain.

Don’t we all want to have a spirit filled life? Then we must be able to resist the FUD of the enemy. Satan uses FUD to keep us wandering in the wilderness, unfocused and powerless to engage the enemy; satan is still up to his old FUD tricks today.

Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men; but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this age, neither in the age to come. (Matthew 12:31-32 KJV)

This causes concern for some Christians as they ask — have I done this? What if I’ve done it and not even known it? What if I did it before I became a Christian? Jesus says it is not pardonable. Does that mean I’m lost forever?