God Told Me

 It has been said that one of the most dangerous things a person can say is, "God told me." That is most definitely true.  When a person says, "God told me" he is claiming to receive direct revelation from God.  This person is actually making himself equal with Scripture itself.  This is a very foolish and dangerous assertion to make.  

You should be skeptical of anyone claiming that, "God told me." It is likely only the person's own imagination, not a word from God.  The Lord does lead his people but he does not give them additional revelation.  

The Bible is the ultimate authority because it is the actual Word of God.  If you want to hear God speak, open your Bible and read it.  The modern church needs to recover the doctrine of Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone).  

(Proverbs 30:5-6)"Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.  Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar."  (ESV)  

My Beliefs About Biblical Matters

 View Of Scripture          

Scripture alone is the ultimate authority.  The Bible is the inerrant Word of God.  

Theological Perspective

Baptist, Reformed, Classic Protestant

Creation/Evolution

Young Earth Creationist

Soteriology (Salvation)

Doctrines Of Grace

Eschatology (Last Things)

Amillennialism with a preterist/futurist/idealist interpretation method. 

Gifts of Prophecy And Tongues

Cessationist

Role Of Women

Complimentarian

Apologetic Method

Presuppositionalism

Bible Translation

ESV (English Standard Version)

Contend For The Faith

The main theme of the book of Jude is contending for the faith, rejecting false teachers, and standing for the truth.  Jude was the brother of James and half brother of the Lord Jesus.  He wrote this letter sometime around A.D. 66.  The book of Jude contains only one chapter.  

(Jude 1:3) "Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints."  (ESV) 

Although Jude had desired to write to his fellow Christians about salvation, he was compelled to urge them "to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to to the saints."  The "faith" referred to the gospel and all Christian teaching.  It was "once for all delivered to the saints."  This shows that the Apostles teaching which would become the New Testament in the canon of Scripture was already established and fixed.  Nothing more could be added to it.  We must point out that "saints" refers to all Christians, not just some special class of Christians.  

The Bible alone is the ultimate authority.  This stands in opposition to groups like the Mormons, the Roman Catholics, and many charismatics.  The Mormons insist the Bible is in error and add their own scriptures.  Roman Catholics insist that the Catholic Church tradition is an equal authority to the Bible.  Many charismatics insist that they receive direct revelation from God, making it equal to the Bible.  These groups and many others have rejected Scripture alone and have ended up in serious error.  

It is popular in our day for Christians to insist that we just need to love everyone.  After all it might not seem nice to contend for the faith, and it might not make people feel good.  But the Word of God disagrees, we are told to contend for the faith.  It means to contend for a thing combatantly.  In other words we are to battle for the truth and against error.  Truth should always be accompanied by love, and love must never be divorced from truth.  

Sound doctrine is of the utmost importance and Christians must contend for it.  Whenever false teachers arise they must be dealt with and refuted as we stand on the authority of the Bible alone.  It is not loving to allow error and false teaching to continue.  

When Christians Disagree

How should we react when professing Christians disagree on an issue?  Should we consider each other fellow Christians?  Should we worship separately?  Or is it an issue that is really not that significant?  Placing the issues into three different categories can be helpful.  

Tier 1
Disagreements on issues in this category will require that we not worship together.  Also disagreements on issues in this category will not allow us to consider those who disagree to be fellow Christians.  An example of a Tier 1 issue is the deity of Christ.  If one does not believe that Jesus is the only, unique Son of God he cannot be considered a true Christian.  Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses cannot be viewed as fellow Christians.  

Tier 2
Disagreements on issues in this category may require that we worship separately but we can still consider each other fellow Christians. An example of a Tier 2 issue is baptism.  Some hold to infant baptism and others hold to believers baptism.  Baptists and Presbyterians may worship at different churches but they can still consider each other fellow Christians.  

Tier 3
Disagreements on issues in this category do not require us to worship separately.  Also we can consider each other fellow Christians. An example of a Tier 3 issue is whether one holds to a pretribulation rapture or not.  Disagreements over details of the end times does not require us to worship separately and we can most definitely consider each other fellow Christians.  

I must thank Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for this basic layout.   

Loving God With Your Mind

(Matthew 22:37) "And he said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."  (ESV)

We are to love God with all of our being including our mind.  Unfortunately modern evangelicals have downplayed the role of the mind in loving God.  Modern evangelicalism has an anti-intellectual streak preferring to focus more on feelings and experience.  Loving God with our minds involves having a great concern for doctrine and theology.  Unbelievably many evangelicals have a negative view of doctrine and theology.  

The liberals of old said that Christianity was life and not doctrine.  Unfortunately this seems to be the motto of many modern day evangelicals.  Christianity is life based on doctrine.  Liberalism denied the authority of Scripture, hopefully evangelicalism will not go down the same path.  

If we truly love God we will desire to know more about him.  You have heard it said that I don't need theology to know God loves me.  Well I hate to break this to you but saying God loves me is theology.  Theology is basically the study of God and every Christian should be interested in him.  Of course thinking about God and the things of God requires some effort.  This may be part of the reason why evangelicals are weak in their thought life.  

God has revealed himself to us in the Bible. To be a thinking Christian one must read and study the Bible.  It needs to be read as a whole and not just in bits and pieces.  We have to learn to see the big picture and develop a Christian worldview.  We will then have sound doctrine upon which to base our lives.  

We must learn to love God with our minds.  Being anti-intellectual is simply disobeying God.  The church will not be strong until we recover our minds.  We must have good theology and sound doctrine in order to honor and love God.   

Love The Sinner, Hate The Sin

How often do we hear the phrase, "love the sinner, hate the sin?"  But the phrase is not in the Bible.  I am told it actually originates with Gandhi.  So does God love the sinner but hate the sin?  Psalm 5 tells us the very opposite.  

(Psalm 5:5) "The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers."  (ESV)

People do not just commit sinful actions, their very nature is sinful.  The sinner cannot be separated from his sin.  It is who the person is, sin is not just something outside of him.  Our sinfulness makes us an object of God's wrath.  Apart from Christ and the cross we remain under God's wrath.  

(John 3:36) "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him." (ESV) 

We are all sinners, evildoers, and unrighteous people who apart from Christ will face the wrath of God for eternity in hell.  The hatred of God is a holy hatred, it is not like the self centered hatred of men.  The holiness of God requires that he hate all things sinful.  

But at the same time God loves humanity.  He sent his Son to save his people from the wrath to come.  We can only be reconciled to God through Christ.  God's love and grace are shown to us through Jesus and his work on the cross.  Christ took the wrath of God on himself in the place of all who believe.  

The phrase "love the sinner, hate the sin" is somewhat correct but it tends to be misleading.  It tends to downplay the wrath of God and the utter sinfulness of mankind.  We do not know who we are because we do not know who God is.  The modern church needs to recover its sense of the holiness of God.  People must repent and trust in Christ alone to be saved from the wrath of God.  

Return To The Reformation

Modern evangelicalism has lost its way and strayed from its roots.  As our country has taken a dramatic secular turn the evangelical church is weak when it most needs to be strong.  Evangelicalism has been said to be a mile wide and an inch deep.  A return to our Reformation roots is badly needed.  The Protestant Reformation began in the 1500's and was led by men like Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Ulrich Zwingli.  The Roman Catholic Church had gone astray and the Reformation was a return to Biblical Christianity.  

The Reformation teaching is generally defined by the "solas".  Sola is a Latin word that means only or alone.  The "solas" were Scripture alone, grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone, and to God alone the glory.  

The foundation is Scripture alone because all of the other "solas" flow from it.  The Bible alone is the ultimate authority.  It is authoritative, inerrant, infallible, and totally sufficient.  It is not Scripture plus the church, not Scripture plus tradition, not Scripture plus reason, not Scripture plus  experience, not Scripture plus our culture, and not Scripture plus our feelings, but Scripture alone is the ultimate authority. 

We must also get the gospel correct.  Salvation is by God's grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone.  Salvation is totally the work of God, it is not God and man working together.  People dead in their sins and trespasses are made alive by God.  People are spiritually dead and unable to respond to God.  He regenerates his people and brings them to himself.  We are justified by faith alone in Christ alone and not by works.  If we could be justified by our own works then Christ died for no purpose.  Christ accomplished salvation for his people and nothing can be added to his work on the cross.  Jesus is the only way to heaven.  

To God alone belongs the glory.  God does not share his glory with anyone else.  We need to stop acting like it is God and us working together and recognize the reality that God is God and we are not.  We must recover our sense of the greatness of God.  God is sovereign, holy, supreme, transcendent, majestic, and awesome.  It is indeed God alone who deserves the glory.  
 

Evangelicals And Donald Trump

Many evangelicals are supporting Donald Trump.  So who are evangelicals?  They are conservative Protestants, the Bible believing Christians.  Some of the Trump support seems to be from the prosperity preachers but some of it is from mainstream evangelicals such as Jerry Falwell Jr., Robert Jeffress, and Pat Robertson.  They have said that Trump inspires them and he will save the country.  They contend that the usual political issues do not matter during this election cycle.  Quite frankly evangelical support for Trump is baffling and stunning.  

So what about Donald Trump's Christian claims?  He says he is a Presbyterian who admired Norman Vincent Peale, a liberal positive thinker who was no evangelical.  Mr. Trump runs casinos (his were the first to have strippers), he has bragged about sleeping with married women, and has even made weird statements about his own daughter. Trump is just as immoral as Bill Clinton, yet evangelicals who were outraged by Clinton give Trump a pass.  Trump is also extremely profane and vulgar.  He routinely disparages and demeans women and he even mocks disabled people.  He is full of greed, a lover of money, a lover of self, and power hungry.   Trump is a bully who tries to destroy all who disagree with him.  He always slanders and belittles his opponents showing little love and respect for others.  

In his own words Donald Trump says that he has never asked for forgiveness or seen the need to do so.  He considers himself basically a good person who has done the best he can.  The truth is that none are righteous and all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:10,23).  Trump does not acknowledge that he is a sinner in need of forgiveness.  He seem to have little understanding of Christianity itself.  All true Christians realize they are sinners facing God's wrath and need forgiveness.  They also know that salvation is found in Christ alone.  Going by Trump's own words and actions he should be regarded as an unbeliever.  The church he belongs to should exercise church discipline and remove him until he repents (See 1 Corinthians 5).  Allowing people like Donald Trump to use the label "Christian" makes a mockery of Christianity.  

There are similarities between Donald Trump and the prosperity preachers.  They both love money, fame, and power.  They also deceive people and lead them astray.  They both make huge promises to people that they cannot fulfill.  Both seem to have a special ability to make things right for people but of course they really do not.  Both of them receive blind allegiance from their followers.  

The Trump disciples are like mindless zombies who are under his spell.  They give him blind allegiance and are led by pure emotion.  They have rejected all reason and logic.  They believe anything he says, after all they get the truth from "the Donald".  How often has Trump denied something he has previously said?  He constantly spreads falsehood about all who disagree with him.  In reality Trump is not trustworthy and he is as dishonest as Hillary Clinton.  

The Trump disciples remind me of the Obama supporters who thought he was a savior.  The Trump disciples have an absolute devotion to him which borders on idolatry.  This is very frightening for our country and it brings about the wrath of God.  

Could evangelical support for Donald Trump be the fruit of a weak modern church?  Does it speak to the sad state of the modern evangelical movement?  Unfortunately the average Christian knows little theology and does not have a Biblical worldview.  Modern evangelicalism has been said to be a mile wide and an inch deep.  There is little serious thought from modern evangelicals and they are led by emotionalism.  But what about someone like Robert Jeffress?  He is usually reliable, definitely knows theology, and has a Biblical worldview.  It is hard to understand but perhaps Dr. Jeffress has allowed desperation and emotion to cloud his judgment.  

Evangelicals of all people should know that Trump is not their savior.  He will not save our country because he cannot save our country.  No politician can save 
us.  Our real problems are not political but are moral and spiritual.  Evangelicals supporting Trump should be ashamed of themselves.  The only hope for saving our country is turning to Jesus, not Donald Trump or any other politician.  

Evangelical, What Does It Mean?

The term evangelical seems to have lost its meaning in recent times.  Evangelical is basically the same as the word gospel.  So an evangelical Christian is a gospel Christian.  Evangelicalism itself has it's roots in the Protestant Reformation of the 1500's.  Martin Luther actually used the term evangelical instead of Lutheran.  

During the Reformation the gospel was rediscovered.  The Biblical gospel had become obscured by the Roman Catholic Church with it's faith plus works doctrine of salvation.  Men like Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, and John Calvin lead the way in the recovery of Biblical Christianity.  The Reformers taught that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone.  Since it is all the work of God, it is to God alone be the glory.  The Reformers also taught that Scripture alone is authoritative.  The Bible is the ultimate authority and not the Pope or the Roman Catholic Church.  

By the early 1900's the authority of Scripture was under attack by the secular culture and theological liberalism.  The fundamental doctrines of the faith as well as the authority and inerrancy of Scripture were defended by early fundamentalists like B.B. Warfield, R.A. Torrey, and J. Gresham Machen. Unfortunately later fundamentalists became anti-intellectual and extremely separatist, retreating from the culture.  

In the 1940's and 1950's modern evangelicalism arose led by figures such as Carl Henry and Billy Graham.  The movement initially held to historic, orthodox Christianity believing in the inerrancy of Scripture.  But division emerged in the movement as early as 1962 when Fuller Theological Seminary removed inerrancy from it's doctrinal statement.  

Some within evangelicalism no longer hold to the inerrancy of Scripture and deny certain parts of it.  Some modern evangelicals deny the existence of hell, believe in evolution, and some even embrace homosexuality.  Also many have embraced feminism as can be seen in the popular 2011 NIV translation of the Bible with it's gender neutral language.  

Evangelicalism has been infiltrated by liberalism no longer strongly identifying with historic, orthodox Christianity.  Some no longer want to even use the term evangelical because it has been emptied of it's meaning.  The term often needs to be qualified with other descriptive terms such as conservative evangelical or confessing evangelical.   A recovery of Biblical Christianity is badly needed in the evangelical movement. 

The Danger Of The Sinner's Prayer

Matthew 7:21 "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."  (ESV)

The sinner's prayer usually consists of an admission of sin, asking for forgiveness, asking Jesus into your heart, and thanking God.  A person is usually told to repeat the words of this prayer in order to be saved.  After the person has said the prayer he is told he has assurance of salvation and is told never to doubt his salvation.  

Has anyone ever considered that the sinner's prayer is not in the Bible?  Why do we insist on it if it is not even in the Bible?  Could it be that our evangelism is not Biblical?  And could it be that we are getting things wrong by making our evangelism man centered?  We have tried to reduce the gospel down to three easy steps or four spiritual laws.  The gospel is much deeper and richer than a few easy steps.  

How many times have we heard about someone who lives a worldly lifestyle but points to a time in their past when they prayed the sinner's prayer to give assurance of their salvation.  The Bible never tells anyone they are saved if they have said the words of the sinner's prayer.  Instead we are told to examine ourselves by God's Word to make sure of our salvation.  

The sinner's prayer and our whole man centered evangelism produces many false converts.  Many people are deceived into thinking they on their way to heaven when in reality they are on the road to hell.  The true believer is not someone who has said some words to a prayer but the one who does the will of God.  

A true believer was dead in his sins and has now been made alive by God.  He has been born again or regenerated.  He was dead to God and is now alive to God.  If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation.  The true Christian trusts in Christ alone for salvation.  He has repented of his sins and continues a life of repentance.  A true believer is characterized by living in obedience to God.  The true believer still sins but his life is not characterized by sinful living.  

A person is converted to Christ through the proclamation of the full gospel.  It is the work of God and not the work of man.  We cannot create true belief in any person, it must be done by God and his Word.  God draws the person to himself and he then repents of his sin and places his faith in Christ for salvation.  

Unfortunately many false converts have been assured of their salvation wrongly by others telling them they are okay because they prayed the sinners prayer.  The churches are filled with people who have never been regenerated or born again because of our man centered, easy believism evangelism.  

We need to know who God is and what he is like.  People need to be presented with the attributes of God.  Only when we understand who God is, will we understand that we are totally depraved sinners in need of a Savior.  

The Lost Gospel

The Biblical gospel message seems to have been lost in our modern culture.  Unbelievers do not seem to understand the gospel itself.  If you turn to Christian television you will get and endless parade of prosperity preachers proclaiming a false gospel.  The media presents Christians in the culture wars trying to impose their beliefs on others.  And then there is the Roman Catholic Church with it's distorted gospel of faith and works.  

Even Evangelical Christians do not seem to fully understand the gospel sometimes.  They often fail to grasp the depths of our unrighteousness.  Christians were not good people who have been made better but sinners who have been saved from their sins.  

Unbelievers seem to view Christians as people who view themselves as good people who deserve to go to heaven.  Is this at least somewhat the fault of the church for not making the gospel clear?  In reality no one is righteous and all have sinned (Romans 3). Christians have been saved from their sins by Christ alone.  

Salvation is totally by grace, it is undeserved and completely the work of God.  At one point we were all sinners who deserved to go to hell.  To get to heaven you must meet God's perfect standard of righteousness being without sin.  Christ lived a perfect life without sin enabling him to be our perfect substitute.  He died on the cross to pay for the sins of his people.  He was raised from the dead vindicated as the Son of God and victorious over sin and death.  Believers receive the righteousness of Christ and he takes our sins upon himself (2 Corinthians 5:21).  

At one point we were all spiritually dead and slaves to sin.  But God makes us alive, he regenerates us or makes us born again.  We then respond with repentance and faith in Christ alone for salvation.  Christians are changed and transformed by God.  

It is the gospel of grace, totally unearned and undeserved.  If people could be good enough to get to heaven or earn their way there, then Christ died for no purpose and Christianity would make no sense.  All Christians were sinners who have been saved by Christ alone.   

A Call For Protestant Separatism

This is not a call for an extremist separatism or a return to Fundamentalism.  In case you have not noticed America is not exactly Christian and Evangelicalism is not exactly transforming the culture.  We need something between Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism.  It needs to be distinctly Protestant in the line of the Reformers and the Puritans.  We need a return to classic Protestantism, which is Biblical Christianity.  

Fundamentalism became extremely separatist and legalistic.  It became anti intellectual and withdrew from the world.  While Fundamentalism was not of the world, it was also not in the world.  Evangelicalism set out to reform Fundamentalism.  But it became too accommodationist and lacked doctrinal distinctiveness.  Without the theological distinctiveness it could not sustain itself. Evangelicalism has been said to be a mile wide and an inch deep, it has become shallow. Evangelicals seem to think that they need to become like the world in order to reach the world (a distortion of Biblical teaching).  Some have even commented that Evangelicalism has managed to be of the world but not in the world.    

The call for Protestant separatism is needed. It may just be the case that we must get smaller in order to become more effective in the long run.  It must be distinctively Protestant and separate from other groups that are not.  

Mainline or liberal Protestants should be separated from.  As Machen said liberalism is not Christianity at all.  The liberal Protestants have no right to use the name Protestant either.  Evangelicals and Catholics together sounds nice but the divide is too wide.  The Roman Catholic Church does not even get the gospel right.  Some seem to think we can unite with the Mormons.  But Mormonism is a Christian heresy with its many gods.  The emergent church, the seeker sensitive movement, and the prosperity gospel should all be avoided too.  

We need to stop trying to be like the world and start being the church.  Protestants must separate from the world.  I mean to be in the world but not of the world.  We must also separate from false and erroneous teaching which pervades the modern church.  We need a distinct Protestantism to proclaim truth to the world and to be an example to it.  We must not water down our doctrine in order to partner with other groups.  

We must recover our confidence in the authority and sufficiency of the Bible.  We must hold to the gospel of grace, salvation is the work of God and not the work of man.  We must also recover our sense of the greatness of God.  We must focus on the holiness, majesty, and transcendence of God. 

We must hold to Biblical Christianity and not compromise it.  Classic Protestantism represents true Christianity.  We must hold to Protestant distinctives to reach and influence the world.  We must have intellectual vigor along with heart felt devotion.  We must love God with our minds and our hearts.   

When The Persecution Comes

Christians in many places around the world face severe persecution.  They face suffering, imprisonment, and even death for their testimony of Jesus and the Word of God.  Also the persecution of Christians has been common throughout history.  But in America there has been little real persecution of Christians.  The persecution faced by American Christians has been relatively minor.  It usually only consists of being ridiculed, made fun of, or being shunned by a group.  

But serious persecution of Christians may come to the United States.  It does seem to be heading in that direction.  Our culture keeps becoming more secular and more hostile to Christianity.  For example, if someone mentions that homosexuality is a sin he is severely criticized by the culture.  At some point this may be labeled as hate speech.  

Of course Christ and the cross is the biggest offense of all.  Unbelievers actually hate Christ and the truth.  He shines light into the darkness and exposes their evil deeds (John 3:19-21).  Jesus confronts people with the reality of their sinfulness and the fact that they are guilty before God.  People do not like being told that they are sinners in need of a savior.  

So if persecution comes what will become of Christianity in America?  Evangelicalism is said to be a mile wide and an inch deep.  The modern American church is shallow and does not have a deep understanding of the Bible.  The number of professing Christians will probably decrease dramatically.  Many professing Christians never were true Christians to begin with.  Some mega churches will no longer be mega.  If persecution comes being a Christian will become serious business (as it should be already).  It will no longer be like becoming a member of a country club.  People like Joel Osteen, Benny Hinn, and Mike Murdock will disappear from the scene.  The prosperity preachers will take the money and run.  But a remnant of true believers will remain faithful.  

Persecution will bring purity to the church though we should not seek persecution.  It is actually normal for Christians to be persecuted and hated by the world.  They hated Christ and they will hate his followers also (Luke 17:21, John 15:18-25).  We should pray that we will remain faithful when persecution comes.  We should count it as an honor to suffer for the name of Jesus (Acts 5:41, Matthew 5:10-12). 

It's A God Thing

"It's a God thing" seems to be a popular phrase today among modern Christians.  It is usually said when something good or unusual happens.  It is good that God is recognized by people.  But does it expose a flow in our thinking?  Is God also in control when something bad or ordinary happens?  

Could it be "a God thing" when there is suffering or when things do not seem to work out?  Modern evangelicals seem to have a flawed view of God's sovereignty.  He is absolutely sovereign, he is in control of everything.  God is not the author of sin or evil but he is sovereign over them.  Nothing happens that is not his will.  We are speaking of his sovereign will which cannot be violated.  His moral will is sometimes disobeyed but he is still sovereign over all things.  

There also seems to be thinking in modern evangelicalism that God is not involved if a miracle does not occur.  They fail to recognize that God is involved in all things. They act as if things just happen if a miracle does not occur.  God often works through ordinary means.  

God is involved in and in control of all things that occur.  He is sovereign, he rules and reigns.  He is transcendent but it also immanent.  Transcendence speaks of how he transcends us, is beyond us, is greater than us, and is apart from us.  Immanence speaks of his nearness to us and his involvement in the world.  In reality it is always a God thing.  

(Ephesians 1:11) "In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will" (ESV)  

(Proverbs 16:9) "The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps."  (ESV)

(Proverbs 16:33) "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD."  (ESV)
 

Young People, Postmodernism, And The Bible

Postmodernism is the view held by most of the young people today including many professing Christians.  Postmodernists believe there is no absolute truth and no ultimate right and wrong.  They hold to moral relativism.  We are not to judge and we must be tolerant of all things, except of course those people who have been deemed intolerant.  The postmodern children do not want to declare anything right or wrong because all things are just opinions and preferences.  

The postmodernists cannot consistently declare anything to be good or evil.  They cannot even say that murder and rape are wrong, they have to just say it is not preferred.  Postmodernism recognizes no truth and no authority.  There can never be any certainty about anything either.  In a postmodern worldview all religions and beliefs are equally valid.  Those making truth claims or exclusivity claims will be rejected.  

In reality postmodernism is utter nonsense. It is simply the suppression of the truth about God.  Ultimately it is the rejection of the God who is there.  

So what is the answer in dealing with all of this?  According to the modern church it must be fun and games.  You definitely do not want to be serious.  Modern youth ministry seems to major in triviality and just plain stupidity.  

How often have we heard that we do not need theology?  But theology is simply the study of God.   In reality theology needs to be recovered.  What could be more important than the study of God?  Reaching the postmodern children requires a supernatural answer.  Reason alone will not persuade the young people of today.  We must go to the Bible, the book from God, the very word of God.  The Bible needs to be understood as a whole and not just in bits and pieces.  Postmodernists need to see the real Jesus.  They need the one who is the way, the truth, and the life.     

Jars Of Clay Singer Rejects Biblical Christianity

Dan Haseltine lead singer of the Contemporary Christian Music group Jars of Clay has embraced homosexual marriage.  He says he has never been given a compelling reason to oppose it.  How about because God says it is a sin?  God calls it an abomination, unnatural, and says that those who live that way will not inherit the kingdom of God (Leviticus 18:22, Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11).  Haseltine said he does not care about what the Bible says is wrong.  He just wants to focus on loving and caring.  Haseltine also said he was tired of trying to uphold evangelical beliefs.  

It is obvious that Dan Haseltine does not believe the Bible is the Word of God.  He does still claim to be a Christian though.  He just wants to focus on love and the things he likes.  Haseltine has simply embraced theological liberalism.  And liberalism is not Christianity at all.  Theological liberals do not believe the Bible is the literal Word of God without error.  They are not willing to reject Christianity even though they do not believe the Bible.  Liberals should be honest and renounce Christianity.  

Jars of Clay achieved much success in CCM and in the secular arena.  In 1995 the song "Flood" was a very big hit.  They were even referred to as the Christian Beatles.  But now after the remarks by Haseltine some Christian radio stations are rejecting them. Many of their fans are no longer their fans. We can only hope that Dan Haseltine repents and turns to God.    

Basic Christian Worship

(Acts 2:42) "And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers."  (ESV) 

Worship in the modern church seems to have gone astray.  It often includes elements that are not Biblical.  So let us go back to the early church to see what their worship was like.  

The early church was first of all devoted to the apostles' teaching.  This would be the Bible, God's revelation to us.  The Scripture is foundational to all Christian worship.  It is the literal word of God without error.  A true Christian church must preach and teach the Bible.  

Next we see the early church was devoted to the fellowship.  This involves partnership and sharing.  We are partners with Christ and other believers.  What makes Christian fellowship "Christian" is Christ himself.  He is what we have in common.  We gather together to focus on and worship God.  The focus should not be on ourselves.  Christian fellowship is much different than a social gathering.  

We also see the early Christians devoted to the breaking of bread.  This is the Lord's supper.  All Christians are to observe it. Should it be observed every week?  Maybe, but at least it should be observed more often than it is in most modern churches.  The two ordinances of the church are the Lord's supper and baptism.  Finally the early church was devoted to the prayers.  This included individual and corporate prayers.  Prayers should include praise and thanks to God, confession of sin, and our seeking to be in line with the will of God.

Unfortunately much of modern worship is not regulated by the Bible.  The modern church often bases it's worship on the desires of people instead.  The focus is on man instead of God.  Often worship in modern evangelical churches devolves into entertainment and triviality.  We are not very serious and so the world does not take us seriously.  We lack a sense of the holiness of God.  We seem to think we have encountered our chummy, buddy God.  When in reality it is the Holy One Of Israel that we have encountered.    

After Easter

Many people attended church on Easter Sunday.  For many of those it will be the only time of the year that they actually attend church services.  Do those people think they can earn God's favor by making an appearance at church?  Maybe they heard the gospel and realize that they cannot earn God's favor.  Maybe they came to see that salvation is by God's grace.

Hopefully at least a large portion of the people actually heard the true gospel and Biblical teaching.  Unfortunately in the modern church Biblical teaching is in short supply.  And in many cases we are ashamed of the gospel.  

Also the lives of many professing Christians do not match what they profess to believe.  There life and thought are no different from than that of unbelievers.  Studies show that most professing Christians have little knowledge and understanding of the Bible.  What a sad state the modern church is in! 

Oh that we would recover a love for the Word of God.  If we could only recover true devotion to Christ.  The name Christian needs to have its true meaning restored.   If only the world could see Christians who are true followers of Jesus.  Biblical Christianity must be restored.  This is what unbelievers need to see and hear.  

Resurrection Day

Our modern Easter celebration includes things such as the Easter Bunny, egg hunts, and chocolate candy, even chocolate crosses.  A chocolate cross seems to be a gross trivialization of the cross of Christ.  After all the cross was an instrument of torture and execution.  It also takes away the profound theological implications of the cross of Christ.  
Many churches will have egg hunts and many Christians will focus on the Easter Bunny and the secular celebration.  This focus is all wrong because it takes the focus off of Christ.  We must move away from the Easter celebration and move to the celebration of Resurrection Day.  

After all Christianity hinges on the resurrection of Christ.  If there is no resurrection then there is no Christianity  (1 Corinthians 15).  The problem we all have is sin.  Because we have sinned against a holy God by breaking his law we now face his wrath and eternity in hell.  We have no true righteousness of our own.  But Jesus lived a perfect life without sin in order to be our perfect substitute.  He died on the cross to pay for the sins of his people.  His death was  a propitiation for our sins.  In other words Christ's work on the cross turns away the wrath of God from us.  Jesus was then raised bodily from the dead, not just spiritually as some liberal scholars would have us believe.  But Jesus was raised from the dead bodily, victorious over sin, death, and the devil.  The resurrection is also proof that Jesus is God.  

All people must repent of their sins and trust in Christ alone for salvation.  Jesus is the only way to heaven.  The sins of believers are placed on Jesus, while his righteousness is counted as ours. 

So is it reasonable to believe in the resurrection of Christ?  The evidence for the existence of God is overwhelming.  So if God exists and he can create out of nothing, surely he could raise his Son from the dead. Also there were over 500 witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus.  It is not likely all these people would be delusional.  The opponents of Christianity only had to produce the body of Jesus to disprove it.  But they never did because they could not produce it.  The disciples were changed by the resurrection of Christ and they proclaimed it boldly.  Many of them even died for their faith in Jesus.  People don't usually die for something they know not to be true.  The logical conclusion is that Jesus was raised from the dead.  Jesus is indeed the Messiah, the Son of God.   

American Christianity

Around 75% of the American people claim to be Christians.  We often hear the United States referred to as a Christian nation.  Yet the nation is very secular and pagan in it's thought and life.  How does a nation that is 75% Christian end up secular and pagan?  Could the reality be that Christians do not make up 75% of the U.S. population?  

What we often get is a sort of cultural Christianity.  Many consider themselves Christians because of the cultural heritage of the country.  It is similar to identifying one's self as an American.  Cultural Christianity produces no change in a person's life and thought.  

Many professing American Christians have little knowledge and understanding of the Bible.  They do not read it and they have no desire for it.  Someone preaching or teaching Biblical Christianity is boring to them.  Many do not view the Bible as the literal, Word of God without error.  They do not see it as infallible in all areas it deals with including science and history.  

Many professing Christians do not see God as holy, sovereign, and a judge we must face.  They deny the existence of absolute truth and the reality of right and wrong.  They also do not take sin seriously as an offense against a holy God.  Many Americans do not believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven.  They believe that all religions are basically the same and that they all lead to the same God.  Many Americans who call themselves Christians believe that salvation it achieved by our own works.  Many also do not believe in the existence of the devil or hell.  All these things are not the marks of true Christians.  

Also the lifestyles of most Americans claiming to be Christians do not match up with Biblical teaching.  Their focus is not on obeying and glorifying God.  They instead live for themselves, in effect trying to be their own god.  They live in rebellion against God with a lifestyle characterized by sinfulness.  They live in immorality, drunkenness, profanity, and greed.  It is not uncommon to find people professing to be Christians and living together outside of marriage.   It is also not uncommon for them to approve of homosexuality.  Many even live the party lifestyle while claiming to be Christians.  Many of the professing Christians of America show their love of money by regularly playing the lottery.  

The entertainment enjoyed by many American Christians is anything but Christian.  What is often viewed on television and in movies is actually anti-Christian.  Television and movies are often immoral, vulgar, profane, and blasphemous.  Some professing Christians even watch trash TV talk shows.  Also many professing Christians listen to music that often has an anti-Christian worldview.  It too if full of immorality, profanity, and blasphemy.  The music listened to by many American Christians is actually dishonoring to God.  These things also are not marks of a true Christian.  

True Christians desire to obey and glorify God.  They have a desire for the Bible because it is the Word of God.  They believe and hold to the teaching of the Bible.  Biblical Christians are also not characterized by sinful living.  They do still commit sins but they practice repentance.  There is an actual struggle against sin, not a mere acceptance of it.  True Christians recognize sin as sin.  True Christians trust in Christ alone for their salvation.  

Could it be that a nation ends up with a secular and pagan worldview because it is made up of secularists and pagans?  In reality most Americans are not true Christians.  Many who profess to be Christians have been lied to and deceived.  Unfortunately many American "Christians" are on the road to hell.  They need to turn to the Bible to get the truth.  I would guess that 10% or less of the American people are actually Christians.  Biblical Christians are definitely a minority.