People Who Inspire Me: William Wilberforce

William Wilberforce was a member of the British Parliament in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Early in his political career, he experienced "the great change" in his life due to a friend who shared the message of Jesus Christ with him as they vacationed together over the summer. He placed his faith in Christ and made a genuine commitment to follow him as Lord.

At first, he seriously considered leaving his position as a member of Parliament. Prior to following Jesus, Wilberforce had not done anything of true significance as a politician. He had been concerned merely with his own position in society, his own fame, wealth, and power. However, a former slave ship captain changed his way of thinking on the subject. John Newton, the author of the song Amazing Grace, urged him to live out his Christian convictions while serving the nation as a politician. Newton encouraged Wilberforce with these words: "It is hoped and believed that the Lord has raised you up for the good of His church and for the good of the nation." As an evangelical Christian committed to doing good for his nation in political circles, William Wilberforce became best known for leading the effort to abolish the trans-Atlantic slave trade and eventually slavery in the British empire.

Why does William Wilberforce inspire me?

1. He had a strong commitment to sound doctrine. This led to faithfully living out the implications of those doctrines. He pursued mercy and justice because he saw the God of mercy and justice through the pages of the Bible. His understanding of sin, grace, and Christ led him to oppose sin, extend grace, and honor Christ in every aspect of his life.

2. He was evangelistic. In his personal relationships, he sought every opportunity to share his faith. In the Parliament, he worked with many unbelievers. Some opposed him in every way. Others were his friends and allies. In both cases, he tried to persuade them of their need for Jesus. He even wrote A Practical View of Christianity, a popular book in which he shared his faith with the population at large.

3. He had a strong commitment to doing good. In addition to fighting the slave trade, he was heavily involved in the British Foreign Bible Society, the Church Missionary Society, and the Society for the Manufacturing Poor. He worked to alleviate harsh child labor conditions and to improve prison conditions. He was a founder of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He did not limit himself to seeking good in one area. He sought every opportunity available to him to improve his world and to honor his Savior.

4. He persevered. Wilberforce endured years of poor health and problems with his children. He faced entrenched political forces that opposed everything he supported. He was slandered in public and humiliated in many ways. But he never gave up. He continued to seek the best for his family, his friends, and his society.

William Wilberforce was a man worthy of honor, because he was a man who consistently honored the name of God.

Making a Positive Impact

Sometimes Christians are best known for what we are against. We oppose same-sex marriage, abortion, and sexual immorality. We speak out against those sins; and that's absolutely appropriate. Those sins (among many others) are destroying us and the people we love. We can't remain silent. We care too much.

However, we cannot be satisfied with a purely negative approach when dealing with such issues. We need to be eager to do good in these areas.

How can we make a positive impact? We can...

*teach the biblical message about marriage, life, and sex.
*invite friends to marriage enrichment seminars.
*support a local crisis pregnancy resource center or adoption agency.
*mentor young husbands and fathers or wives and mothers.
*adopt a child.
*extend forgiveness and encouragement to those who have failed.
*let everyone know what Jesus Christ has done to take away our sins and to give us new lives.

The possibilities are nearly endless; and they have not been exhausted.

"And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful" (Titus 3:14).

What About People Who Have Never Heard?

My friend on my job asked another good question today: What happens to people who have never heard the gospel?

It's an uncomfortable question on many levels. On the surface, it calls into question the justice of God. On another level, it calls into question the commitment of Christians to fulfill the Great Commission and to love their neighbors.

Some churchgoing people have adopted universalism in response to such questions. They believe that eventually all people will be saved. Others have adopted inclusivism, the belief that a sinner does not necessarily need to believe in Jesus Christ in order to be saved as long as he or she has never heard of Jesus Christ.

I can't accept either view. Jesus warned about the dangers of hell far too often for his followers to dismiss those warnings for universalism. Christ and his apostles emphasized the need for faith in Christ far too often to dismiss it for inclusivism.

As for God being unjust in requiring faith in Christ, I sympathize with those who find it difficult to accept. However, it remains the way by which we are brought into a right relationship with God. "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God" (Romans 5:1-2).

The hard truth is: sinners are saved by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). No one deserves salvation. I wish I did, but I don't. It's to God's glory that anyone is saved at all.

The more disturbing aspect of my friend's question centers on what it says about me. Do I really care about people who don't know about Christ and are heading to an eternity without hope? Do I really care about fulfilling the Great Commission ("Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you"--Matthew 28:19-20)? What am I doing to help people to know Jesus Christ? Am I sharing my faith? Am I praying for those who have never heard the gospel? Am I supporting Christians who are trying to reach unreached people around the world?

In this video, atheistic entertainer Penn Gillette challenges Christians who believe that unbelievers are in danger of hell to love them enough to share their faith with them. It's one of the most convicting videos ever made by an atheist. He "gets it" better than I do sometimes.

Why Did God Command the Complete Destruction of Some Nations?

Last week, a co-worker was reading Deuteronomy 20. He came to me with an important question: Why did God command the Israelites to completely destroy some nations?

This is my attempt to deal with this difficult question. (And I acknowledge that my response may not be completely adequate, but at this time, it's my best response.)

As the text states, the Israelites were commanded to completely destroy some nations as they were entering the Promised Land so that "they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the LORD your God" (Deuteronomy 20:18). Leviticus 18 describes the total corruption of these societies. They tolerated and practiced incest, fornication, adultery, homosexuality, bestiality, and child sacrifice in service to their false gods. Evil was celebrated. Selfishness, brutality, and narcissism ruled the land.

"(W)hen God directed the Children of Israel to go in and conquer the Promised Land, He told them to destroy the peoples who lived there. This command was necessary because of the vileness of the pagan religions practiced in that good land. The most brutal worship of all was that demanded by Moloch. This cruel demon was represented by an iron idol with hollow belly and with both arms bent in front in a cradling position. A fire was built in the hollow belly, and each mother was required to sacrifice her first-born by placing him in the idol's arms to be burned alive. During this horrible ceremony, the priests and priestesses of Moloch beat drums which reached a deafening crescendo as the mother laid her baby in the idol's arms. The purpose, of course, was to keep the mother from hearing her baby's screams" (Drums of Moloch, Herbert C. Casteel, pp. 94-95).

Two factors made matters worse for the inhabitants of the Promised Land: 1. They had a knowledge of their sins and of the true God who expected better from them. 2. They had been given centuries to repent.

Like all people, they had a basic understanding of right and wrong. However, they chose to "suppress the truth" (Romans 1:18). "Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them" (Romans 1:32).

Although easy to overlook, we should also recognize that the pagan nations were well aware of the Lord's judgment long before destruction came upon them. In fact, Balaam was an internationally-known prophet of the Lord from a pagan land (Numbers 22). The true God was known in lands far away from the Israelites; and they did not have exclusive access to his prophets. Furthermore, as Rahab the pagan prostitute testified before her city was destroyed, "I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt..." (Joshua 2:9-10). For at least 40 years, the people of Jericho knew that their judgment day was coming, but they expressed no interest in changing their ways as the people of Ninevah would several centuries later (Jonah 3:6-10).

In addition, it should be noted that the nations inhabiting the Promised Land were given 400 years to repent (Genesis 15:16; Deuteronomy 9:5). Their destruction came fairly quickly, but it was only after God had waited patiently for centuries for them to change their hearts.

Also, different rules of warfare existed against the nations within the Promised Land than against the nations outside those boundaries. The nations within the Promised Land faced total destruction (Deuteronomy 20:16-18). They were facing the judgment of God. More conventional standards of warfare applied to enemy nations outside the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 20:10-15).

Finally, it should be noted that God's grace was extended to individuals even as their societies faced total annihilation. The prostitute Rahab and her family found grace. They were spared from God's judgment because they placed their faith in God and followed the instructions that they were given (Joshua 2-3).

The Life That Matters

I liked today's reading in the devotional Our Daily Bread. Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version. It was written by David Roper. More devotionals may be found at http://odb.org. This is today's devotional:

"Remember those...who have spoken the Word of God to you, whose faith follow" (Hebrews 13:7).

"Isaac Hann was a little-known pastor who served a small church in Loughwood, England, in the mid-18th century. At the close of his ministry, the membership of the church numbered 26 women and 7 men. And only 4 of the men attended with any regularity.

"In this age of mass media and mega-churches, who would consider this a successful work? In our world today, Isaac Hann would be considered one of those pastors who never quite 'made it.' He certainly wouldn't have been invited to speak at pastors' conferences, nor would he have written articles on church growth.

"Yet, when he died at 88 his parishioners placed a plaque on the wall of their meeting house that remains to this day. It reads in part:

Few ministers so humble were, yet few so much admired:
Ripened for heaven by grace divine, like autumn fruit he fell;
Reader think not to live so long, but seek to live as well.

"First Peter 5:5-6 comes to mind: 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.' Reverend Isaac Hann 'made it big' in a way that matters--humility before God and a reward in heaven. We can too.

"Humility is the recipe for success."

Three Wooden Crosses

This is a great song about the grace of God.

Truth in Blogging

If you have read my blog for very long, you will not be surprised by anything that I am about to share. But I thought it might be a good idea to write a few words about myself and my perspectives so that any reader would know where I'm coming from theologically and socially.

My Theology

I am a member of the Church of Christ. My theology can be best described as conservative evangelical. I don't try to be innovative in doctrine. I try to be accurate and biblically orthodox. For example,

I believe in the doctrine of the trinity. I believe that the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit are (or is) God. (I'm not sure how to write that sentence in a grammatically correct way.) I believe that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, always present in his creation, and completely holy in his character.

I believe that God created the universe as it is revealed in Genesis. I believe that he prepared the earth for people in six days. I believe that he made Adam and Eve in his image from the dust of the ground on the sixth day.

I believe that Satan tempted Eve. I believe that the sin of Adam led to the corruption of a good universe and to the alienation between God and man.

I believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that he needed to die in my place in order to turn away God's just wrath against me and sinners like me. His resurrection gives me confidence that his Father accepted his sacrifice on my behalf.

I believe that I am saved by God's grace (as seen in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection) through faith (in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior) apart from any work on my part that could cause anyone to think that I deserved to be saved.

I believe that the Holy Spirit lives in God's church today. I believe that he is active in making believers more like Jesus.

I believe that the Holy Spirit inspired the words of the Bible. I believe that the Bible was given to humanity as God's completely accurate message to us...without error because God is completely honest and completely competent.

I believe that repentant believers in Christ need to be baptized, because we need to identify with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. We need to be able to mark the end of our lives without Christ and the beginning of our lives with Christ.

I believe that Christ's church consists all repentant baptized believers who are committed to following Jesus Christ and glorifying God.

I believe that Jesus Christ will return and usher in new heavens and a new earth that will be the home of righteousness. The Day of Judgment will come. Heaven and hell are equally real and equally eternal.

My Social Concerns

This will be much shorter.

I am concerned about loving people. According to Jesus, it's the second greatest commandment (behind loving God).

I concentrate on loving the people around me first. I want to be a good husband, father, son, brother, employee, neighbor, citizen, and church member.

Then, I focus on broader social concerns that affect people. Many of my posts will reveal that I think a lot about abortion, adoption, caring for God's creation, poverty, racial harmony, and strengthening marriages and families.

If anyone was confused about where I'm coming from, I hope this helps. I try to be honest and open.

Abortion and Forgiveness

In this video, a woman describes the circumstances of her abortion, her remorse, her forgiveness, and her healing. If you are responsible for an abortion, you can be forgiven. God would love to welcome you into his forgiven family.

Forgiveness is Hard

This is my planned communion meditation for this Sunday.

God is a forgiving God. Early in the Hebrew Scriptures we learn, "The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression" (Numbers 14:18). It's a part of his nature to forgive. It's a part of who he is.

However, forgiveness is not easy for God. He has gone through a great deal of pain in order to forgive our sins.

This is the way Luke described Jesus' emotional state as he prepared to go to the cross in order to secure our forgiveness: "(Jesus) withdrew from (the disciples) about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, 'Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.' And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground" (Luke 22:41-44).

Christ was in agony even before he was tortured, beaten, mocked, and crucified. He loved us and was extending grace to us when he died in our place, but he did not find it easy to provide us with forgiveness and grace. It cost his life.

As we remember Christ's death and resurrection during the communion today, let's remember that God forgave us at a high price.

Propitiation

This is my planned communion meditation for this Sunday:

You may have heard it on an afternoon talk show, read it in a popular Christian novel, or even been taught it by a well-meaning Bible teacher. It goes something like this: God is not a God of anger. He is not mad at you. He has never been mad at you. It's just not who he is.

But somehow, you have never really bought into it. You have considered your sins, and you have realized that you have done some ugly things with some horribly bad motives. You know that you have been unbelievably selfish and arrogant.

You have also read enough of the Bible to know that God hates sin. He has more than sufficient reasons to be mad at a sinner like you. You believe that he would be completely just if he were to strike you down and condemn you forever.

The truth is your gut instincts are right. But there is more to the story and more about the character of God that needs to be remembered as we think about the crucifixion of Christ.

In Romans 1:18, we read, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth." For the rest of the chapter, the apostle Paul details our unrighteousness: idolatry, homosexual activity, envy, murder, strife, deceit, gossip, slander, disobedience to parents, and several other actions and attitudes.

Then, in chapter two, he attacks those of us who believe we may have escaped the first chapter's list of sins. He tells us that judgmentalism and hypocrisy are just as bad. God is not pleased.

Finally, in chapter three of Romans, Paul hits us with these words, "(A)s it is written, 'None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:10-12, 23).

But then, a dramatic turn occurs in the next verse. We learn that we Christians "are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith" (Romans 3:24-25).

Christ became a propitiation. That's not a word we use much these days, but it's an important word. A propitiation is a sacrifice designed to take away the wrath of God. In Christ's sacrifice, he took away the wrath of God. He became our Savior.

It's true that our sins have caused our God to become angry at us. But even in his anger, he has loved us and provided us with Jesus as a sacrifice to take away both our sins and his wrath.

As Romans 5:1-2 says, "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God."

That's something worth remembering as we take the Lord's Supper today.

The Appeal of the New Calvinism

A year ago, TIME Magazine recognized the new Calvinism as one of the top ten ideas shaping the world (www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1884779_1884782_1884760,00.html).

Why are the new Calvinists making such an impact on the world?

1. New Calvinists embrace the view of a powerful God. They understand God to be all-knowing and all-powerful. He is a God who is not surprised. He is a God who is in control. He is a God who can be trusted when one is facing trouble beyond his own control. We may be surprised at a job loss or a diagnosis of cancer, but God is not. We may not be able to handle our problems, but God is. When everything goes wrong in our lives, we can trust the One in control to do the right thing (even when it is the hard thing).

2. New Calvinists embrace the view of a flawed humanity. They understand that people are sinners. They know that people need a Savior, because although we may not be as bad as we could be, we are nowhere near as good as we need to be. We have been tainted with a pride and selfishness that ruins our hopes of being who we know we should be.

3. New Calvinists embrace the reality of sin and its consequences. They understand that they are sinners deserving of hell and undeserving of heaven.

4. New Calvinists embrace the need for God's grace in Christ. They understand that their only hope is in what Jesus Christ did for them on the cross. They know that Christ died in their place, taking on their sins and appeasing the wrath of God, so that they may live in a right relationship with God forever.

5. New Calvinists embrace the Scriptures as God's inerrant word. They understand that the Bible is trustworthy because God is trustworthy. Since the Lord is neither incompetent nor dishonest, they know that they can trust his message to them.

6. New Calvinists embrace the distinctions between men and women. They understand that God created all people in his image, but that he made men and women to complement each other. In an age of gender confusion, they acknowledge that men and women are different and that such differences are good and healthy.

7. New Calvinists embrace the glory of God. They are obsessed with bringing glory to God rather than to themselves.

The new Calvinists are counter-cultural, but culturally engaged; and in many ways, their counter-cultural views make them more appealing in the culture. They offer something solid and stable to a generation without much stability.

God Treats Me Far Better Than I Deserve

"...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

"(God) makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matthew 5:45).

"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience--among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one my boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:1-10).

"For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:1-7).

The Foundation and Importance of Sound Doctrine

Sound (or healthy) doctrine is a major theme in the book of Titus. As Paul wrote, "He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it" (Titus 1:9).

Sound doctrine is intended to produce people who are sound in the Christian faith. "This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith" (Titus 1:13).

A people of sound faith are able to live sound lives. Most of Titus 2 applies the principles of sound doctrine to the daily responsibilities of believers. Healthy doctrine produces a people with healthy faith who live out that faith in healthy ways.

Then, the apostle Paul presents the foundation of sound doctrine: the grace of God and our need for it. "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works" (Titus 2:11-17).

In order to make progress in the Christian life, we need to remember where we came from. "For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another" (Titus 3:3).

We also need to remember what the Lord has done for us. "But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:4-7).

This kind of sound doctrine will keep followers of Christ sound in the faith and productive in the world.

Devoted to Doing Good

While the apostle Paul makes it clear throughout his letter to Titus that Christians are saved from the consequences of their sins by God's grace and mercy rather than "because of works done by us in righteousness" (Titus 3:5), he makes it equally clear that followers of Jesus Christ should be people who are consumed with doing good in this world. We should be characterized as people who are "zealous for good works" (Titus 2:14). After all, we have been changed by the grace of God. We now care increasingly about the things that concern him.

So, what can we do? The possibilities are nearly limitless.

We can...

*shovel the snow from the driveway of a neighbor
*mentor a child who has no mother or no father
*call someone who is lonely
*pray for a customer who is going through difficult times
*let someone know that the Lord cares about him
*give a ride to someone who doesn't have a car
*take a meal to someone who has been ill or injured
*babysit a single mother's children for an evening
*mow the yard of someone in need
*play ball with some boys who don't have active fathers in their lives

The list could go on and on.

The point is to keep our eyes open for opportunities to do good for others in the name of Christ.

Forgiveness After an Abortion

"For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.

"I acknowledged my sin to you,
and did not cover my iniquity;
I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,'
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin" (Psalm 32:3-5).

Today is the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion throughout the nation. Nearly 50 million legal abortions have taken place since this day in 1973.

I have been thinking about the women (and men) who are living with the guilt of taking the lives of their children before birth. Millions of people have been living with the need for forgiveness.

For anyone in this situation, Randy Alcorn has a helpful piece dealing with the subject at www.epm.org/artman2/publish/Prolife_abortion/Finding_forgiveness_after_an_abortion.shtml.

Also, you may find some helpful Scriptures dealing with sin, grace, forgiveness, and a new life at http://a-disciples-gospel-blog.blogspot.com/.

Losing a Son for the Benefit of Others

This is my communion meditation for tomorrow at the Contact Church.

A few years ago, Tony Dungy was coaching the Indianapolis Colts through another successful football season. Without warning, he received a call informing him that his oldest son Jamie had taken his life while attending college in Florida. Jamie Dungy's death shocked the family. Jamie had been a very good and compassionate young man, the type of son who would make any father proud.

After Jamie's death, Coach Dungy and his wife Lauren were uncertain about what to do. He wrote in Quiet Strength, "In an effort to bring some good out of this, I have tried to assist others...We began by donating Jamie's organs. Today two people can see, thanks to his corneas. A businessman wrote me after the funeral to tell me he's working less in order to spend more time with his son. A young girl wrote a letter to us, saying that although she's always attended church, she dedicated her life to Christ after watching our family at Jamie's homegoing service" (page 262).

In a radio interview a couple of years later, Coach Dungy told his interviewers about how the death of Jamie led to two people receiving their eye sight back, to families becoming closer, and to people coming to faith in Jesus Christ. But, he added, if the Lord had revealed to him that Jamie's death would have helped so many people in so many ways, he still would have asked the Lord to spare his son.

I thought about Tony Dungy's words while reading about the time when Joseph and Mary presented their baby Jesus at the temple for his circumcision. While at the temple, the small family came across a prophet named Simeon who immediately recognized their baby as the long-expected Messiah. After informing Mary that her Son would be a great man in Israel and would face strong opposition, he warned her, "(A)nd a sword will pierce through your own soul also" (Luke 2:35, English Standard Version).

The prophet Simeon foresaw the anguish in Mary's soul as she would watch her Son being executed on a Roman cross three decades into the future. Mary was cryptically warned that her Son would die for the benefit of others.

I'm not sure how much Mary understood the message, but I know that she suffered terribly as she watched her Son die for not only herself, but for people like us too.

Today, as we take part in the communion, we pause to appreciate the pain. Through the pain of the cross, we benefited. Mary lost a Son (for a few days) so that we could be saved forever.

I Found a Savior (Part Four)

This is the conclusion of a Contact Church member's testimony. Previous posts may be read at:

(Part One) http://adisciplesthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/11/i-found-savior-part-one.html
(Part Two) http://adisciplesthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/11/i-found-savior-part-two.html
(Part Three) http://adisciplesthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/11/i-found-savior-part-three.html

"I began saying thank you Jesus for giving my children back and I prayed to God about a place to live. I went to Tulsa Housing and I had been approved a year prior for an apartment. I had spent all that time homeless and didn't know I didn't need to be. The day I showed up to sign my lease the apartment had not been released in the computer, so the lady said she could not do anything until they released it from downtown. While I waited for about an hour I talked to her about needed furniture. She said they had a church that was sometimes able to help with beds and stuff. After a while this white truck pulled up and she said, 'Hey that's the guy you want to talk to, he's from Contact Church.' I said, 'What? Really? I know him!' I ran out to the truck and it was Ron Babbit. I told him how I had been here, how God had helped me, how I was getting my children back, how Bill was out of the picture and how God had convicted me for not teaching my children--all the struggles and victories. He said he was glad for me and that I should come to see them down at the church. I was glad to do that anyway. Contact helped me move furniture into my empty apartment. I am so thankful to my Father in heaven and for Contact Church of Christ. I attended church whenever the doors were open. Praise God they were always there. I've been blessed with opportunities to share what Christ has done for me, those things I could not do for myself. Through this relationship with Christ, God has provided for very specific, unmet needs from my childhood. Through Ron Babbit, God has provided a father figure here on earth for me. Today I desire to know Him more, to enjoy the people he has created. I am so thankful to have friendships today with both men and women. Some relationships at this point in my life have completely changed the way I view men. Men like Joel Osborn and Randy Milam who have listened even when it wasn't easy, men who refuse to see me the way I thought every man saw me. Those men have helped me to see and experience Jesus in a way I had never experienced him.

"I celebrated 2 years on July 31, 2009 clean from crack cocaine. I now celebrate 6 months from alcohol, 6 months from sexual immorality, 1 year 4 months from co-dependency, and I surrendered nicotine 90 days ago today. I am blessed with so many opportunities to give back and to share with others by sponsoring, mothering 4 children, meeting a need for someone, and getting to pray. Some days I can't find a single reason why God chose a sinner like me but I am so glad that he chose to give me life. I found that I am far more valuable to God than many sparrows. I found peace in my inner most being. I found my prince of peace to rescue me. I found healing and restoration. I found God when I sought him with my whole heart. I found a Savior."

Halloween Hell

This is my planned communion meditation for this coming Sunday at the Contact Church.

When I was a teenager, I would go to the latest scary movies with my friends during this time of year. You could always count on being scared by movies like Friday the 13th or The Nightmare on Elm Street during the Halloween season.

In recent years, Guts Church in east Tulsa has sponsored a Hell House in the weeks leading up to Halloween. When people visit their haunted house, they see a depiction of the horrible consequences of living and dying without Christ in their lives. They get a glimpse of hell.

When you think about it, nothing is more frightening than the prospect of facing an all-powerful, all-knowing, and completely holy God with unforgiven sin in our lives. The Bible warns us, "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31). Jesus warns us, "I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after killing the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him" (Luke 12:5). God warns us that sinners face "the fiery lake of burning sulfur" (Revelation 21:8).

As we remember Christ's sacrifice on our behalf when we take the Lord's Supper today, we remember that we were heading toward hell at one time in our lives. As Paul wrote to Titus, "At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:3-7).

Since Jesus died and rose again for us, those of us who have believed the message of the cross and have been changed by it do not need to dread hell. We can now look forward to the day Christ returns to usher in "a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness" (2 Peter 3:13), a time and a place in which we can live forever in a state of peace with God and each other.

Legalism, Grace, Holiness, and Service

This is an excerpt from Bob Lepine's blog on September 30:

"I'm afraid that in our desire to steer clear of legalism today, we have tuned out the call of Christ to holy, set apart living. We can and should celebrate our freedom in Christ. But we must remember, as Paul says in Galatians 5:13: 'do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.'

"Your friends, your co-workers, your children, and everyone with whom you come in contact today will be observing your conduct, your aim in life, your faith, your patience, your love, and your steadfastness. They will be looking carefully to see if your holiness and your willingness to serve others authenticates what you say you believe is true about Jesus and the gospel."

You may read the rest of Bob Lepine's post from September 30, 2009 on his blog. Please click on his name on my Blog Roll at the right to find his blog.

His thoughts reminded me of the apostle Paul's words to his friend and co-worker Titus: "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good" (Titus 2:11-14).

The Pledge and the Appeal of Baptism

I have noticed a difference among scholars of the biblical languages when it comes to translating 1 Peter 3:21 from the ancient Greek into modern English.

The New International Version reads, "...and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also--not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ."

But the English Standard Version reads, "Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ."

I'm not an expert in biblical Greek, but from what I have read, the Greek word in dispute could legitimately be translated as either pledge or appeal. Perhaps it could be both a pledge and an appeal at the same time, since the Greek word seems to carry some degree of ambiguity. I'm not sure.

Whatever the case may be, both definitions provide some insight into what happens during a believer's baptism.

If the New International Version is correct, baptism is a pledge of a good conscience toward God. The believer is making a promise to follow Jesus Christ. He or she is saying, "I believe in Jesus. I understand my need for him. I accept him as my resurrected Lord. As such, I promise to follow him for the rest of eternity."

If the English Standard Version is correct, baptism is an appeal to God for a good conscience. The believer is asking for grace. He or she is saying, "I've messed up my life. I have sinned. I need your forgiveness, God. Please forgive me and show me grace because of what Christ has done to save me."

In reality, during baptism, the new believer is appealing to the grace of God while pledging to follow Christ. Neither definition excludes the other. Both work together in a God-honoring way.