Parable of the Sower: Thorns in My Life

I was reading in Matthew this evening and came across the parable of the sower in 13:1-22. If you need a refresher on what it's all about just re-read verses 18-22. I'm not going to summarize here. What really stuck out to me this time through was the seed that fell in the thorns. Sometimes I feel a lot like a plant growing up among thorns, trying to choke out my spirit and fellowship with God.
We often plant our own thorns, don't we? Jesus mentioned "worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth," but I can think of a couple more things that draw our hearts and minds away from our Creator. Worldly music, secular movies, trouble-making friends-- all things that we place or keep in our lives by choice. Yet, they are some of the most prevalent things that keep my mind distracted with the things of this world. Pray that I can work them out and have the discretion and wisdom to know when God isn't participating!

Philippians: A Reminder to Live in Love and Faith

A really good practice is to read through a whole epistle in the Bible in one sitting. As a Bible study with a couple of my friends this evening, I did just that. From start to finish, we read the book of Philippians. A book of encouragement and friendly reminder, Philippians is a light-hearted read that lifts the soul and encourages the faithful heart. Unlike many of his other epistles, Paul had little to ride the Philippians for except a few reminders that he knew they already were aware of (Philippians 3:1). One verse that often gets singled out in studies on Philippians is 2:12, which states, "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling..." (emphasis mine). Someone brought this verse up in our meeting and simply laid it on the floor. "What do you think it means?" he asked generically, testing the waters. Equally cautious, I prefaced my opinion with a generic response. "Just like any verse taken out of context," I said, "this verse has a tendency to be misused." Observing the nods of agreement, I went on. "Some people use the phrase 'work out your salvation' to say that 'salvation' is dependant on our ability to fulfill 'works.' I don't think this is the case. In context, the point of the verse is that we must be humble and fearful to be sure that we are walking in a way that demonstrates our 'salvation.' We often use the word 'salvation' in a very trite, religious way. Reserving it for references to eternal salvation only, as opposed to eternity in Hell. I think Paul is using it more simply and literally here, just the way the word means as it relates to our salvation from our sins. He is telling us to continue to be humble and fearful before God so we don't fall back into our 'old man.' You kind of have to read the whole sentence, which doesn't stop at the end of verse twelve. 'Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.' If I were to paraphrase, it might say something like, 'Be cautious and fear God because he is the one in control of your salvation.'" All in all, it was a fairly political, diplomatic response. I also discussed some verses in Ezekiel 18 which talk about a similar concept to this question of "loosing your salvation." It states in verses 21-24 that a man who lives wickedly his whole life but later repents of his sin and turns to God will be saved, but a righteous man who does right all the days of his life but, before the end, rejects God and sins, that man will die. It is a bit of both, I explained. From God's perspective, everything is set in stone because he knows our hearts, tendencies, and all things, regardless of what we tell ourselves. But from our perspective, we must be careful we are not like the righteous man of Ezekiel who sinned after a good life and was condemned for it.

The Scientific Accuracy of Genesis

Sometimes Christian scientists are tempted to read rather deeply into certain passages. There are three that seem to get some attention in the hands of enthusiastic theorizers. First is Genesis 1:6-8. “And God said, ‘Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.’ So God made the vault and separated the water from under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. God called the vault ‘sky.’ And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.” Most folks interested in creation science have heard about “the water canopy theory.” The idea is derived from these verses. It hypothesizes that the “water above” the sky was some kind of liquid or vapor “canopy,” such as an ozone layer, that contributed to a global tropical climate. Other less well-known theories hypothesize that this “water canopy” was actually much farther out in space, possibly encompassing more celestial bodies than just the Earth (the verses addressed below, Genesis 1:14-19, certainly seem to indicate that the planets and stars are within the “sky.” However, I think the solution could be far simpler than that. It helps to try to think with the mindset of those to whom the book was written—namely the Hebrew nation, under Moses’ command. When a comparatively ancient culture like the Israelites received this text, I doubt that they would have thought of the “vault” as anything beyond what they could see with their eyes. The water below, reflecting blue, looked like the blue sky above—the waters above. This seems overly simple and scientifically impossible at first glance, but is it really? Among the other gasses of Earth’s atmosphere, water vapor certainly makes up a portion (it is a greenhouse gas). Actually, I don’t think I would expect God to mention the various elements that make up the atmosphere because there weren’t even any names in human language for those things. Essentially, to the understanding of the day, it was water above. I don’t think God was being deceptive; but he might have been keeping it very simple.

There are other cases of God “oversimplifying” scientific concepts that we generally never think of as being a problem. “And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on earth.’ And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.” We all know that the moon does not actually give off light—it merely reflects the light of the sun. So was God deceptive? Absolutely not! Light is certainly shining from the moon and that, more than likely, fit within the cultural definition of a “light” in Biblical days. The scientific definitions and details of our modern understanding of science are of no importance here.

Finally, I would like to address this popular idea that there was no rain before the global flood. It is certainly possible that it never rained before the flood, but it probably didn’t cross the mind of the authors and readers of the Bible when it was written. The context of the source verse for this idea is actually subject to a lot of unnecessary controversy. “Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:5). It says, “the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth,” some like to quote. However, the context of the verse is a description of when “no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up.” I’m sure there were plants growing between the creation of man and the flood. But one might argue that it is chronologically ordered, I suppose, but that doesn’t work. The next verse says that God “formed the man.” So, man was created. If one had just read the previous chapter, it was abundantly clear that plants came before mankind. Rather, it seems to be simply a vague, non-detailed description of the world before a completed creation. Let me know what you think in the comments below, but it seems like God doesn’t value scientific detail as much as we might today.

The Sinner's Prayer

As a follow up to my last post, I wanted to address this issue of easy-believism a little more deeply. I've touched on this topic a number of times, including here. However, I haven't seen it as eloquently put as David Platt does in this video. Please watch and share with others.

Street Evangelism and Denominational Differences

Adapted from and inspired by a comment I left on a YouTube video of a street evangelist with a megaphone.

There is some confusion and controversy these days over public witnessing. I am hearing, more and more often from people that they "would never do something like that." The reasons vary from "it takes a special kind of person" to "Christians shouldn't force people to listen to them." However, like most things, it seems to be a balance. Personally, I have gone door-to-door trying to share the gospel with people. It was often a very enlightening experience for me, but not usually for those my companions and I were witnessing to. Let me explain.

I experience many different situations and became aware of three different groups of people. Most encouraging were fellow Christians. Often times, we would be invited in to visit with a brother or sister in Christ. I often found my faith strengthened greatly by these chance encounters. Interestingly, many of these other Christians were not from mainstream denominations. Seventh Day Adventists, Pentecostals, Church of Christ members, and Baptists alike, in spite of their diverse personal beliefs, often had the same spirit. This observation led me to believe that no single denomination is superior to any other. If an individual person, regardless of their affiliations, has faith in Christ to save them, that person can be properly called a believer. And, not surprisingly, all of these people had one desire; to live by the Bible and depend on Jesus for salvation.

Unfortunately, many of the people I witnessed to did not share my views of such people. Many times, my companion (a conservative baptist) would spend hours trying to convert another fellow believer, simply because the other person believed that getting baptized was part of working out your salvation or that resting on the seventh day of the week was a good thing to do. I would hardly consider these things salvation issues but, it seems, most of the people I was with believed that if a person wasn't a baptist, they weren't Christian. I walked away thinking being a Baptist is a good indicator that one may need to look again at his or her own salvation.

The second group of people I encountered were those who had their own set of beliefs, and perhaps did consider themselves Christian, but were clearly trapped by their own pride or blindness. We encountered those claiming to be Christians who showed no fruit in their lives; they were on drugs, swore copiously, or had some other character flaw that they were making no attempt to correct. Others were firmly set in religion but had no faith in Christ. Many Catholics are this way along with some Baptist or Pentecostal individuals who have no idea what it means to be a Christian except, perhaps, that they attend a church. Most of these people did not want to discuss their religion with anyone. Buddhists, Muslims, and Atheists had a similar attitude as they were often more than happy to talk about our differences, but there was no chance of them ever changing their minds.
The last group of people I encountered were the "sinners." Encounters with hopeless drug addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes, gang leaders, and others usually left me feeling depressed. These people often already knew the truth but they were too deeply entrenched in their sin to escape, so they thought. I pray that my conversations with those people helped to rescue them from their pit, though I never witnessed it. Seeing their tears and desperation usually left me silent for the rest of the day. I am still very passionate about the message of God's power; He IS strong enough to save anyone from ANY sin.
After a year and a half, I had mixed feelings about evangelism. I wanted to help people escape from their sins, but I was disturbed by the division among those who called themselves Christians in America. Once, I watched my companion walk a woman through the gospel as she passively acknowledged that she "thought" what he said was true. At the end of it all, my companion declared, "Well, then, you are saved!" My heart dropped into my stomach. She had only demonstrated that she might have known what truth was. She never put her faith in Christ. I was sobered by the thought of how many false conversions there are int he world because of this easy-believism. As my mother used to say, many people go comfortably to Hell.
I stopped public witnessing for a time after that experience. It was difficult to watch my companion arguing with fellow Christians about trivial matters and then see him walk away gloating about how he hoped the other individual would one day see the light. I still witness to people the best way I know how, even in public places, but, as sad as it is, I cannot trust anyone to come with me. They may deviate from the Bible and chase "foolish controversies" (Titus 3:9) instead of proclaiming the gospel.
Recently I became involved in a certain street evangelist who very harshly proclaimed coming wrath for sinners. I agreed with some of what he said, but he had a lot of pride and was very rude and disrespectful to those he was trying to witness to. After thinking about it, I wrote what I believed to be a balanced Biblical reply.
I used to think that the practice of standing on a street corner and proclaiming the Bible to the lost was a commendable practice that took faith and courage. However, in the case of this man, it looked like it only took pride.
I understood that he was zealous in the preaching of Hell but we need to remember this warning: "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you -- unless, of course, you fail the test?" (Corinthians 13:5). I noticed a few things in his video (seen on youtube) that I wanted him to consider and pray about. If you want to read my comment (very similar to this post) or watch the video (WARNING: bad language) you can do so here. This man needs to remember that Jesus, although verbally hard on people who claimed to be God's people (e.g. Pharisees, such as in Matthew 3:6-8), was remarkably gentle on "sinners," such as the woman at the well (John 4:17-19), the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-12), the Pharisee Nicodemus (John 3), or even those who crucified Him (Luke 23:33-35). Considering that many of Jesus' encounters with "sinners" were quiet, one-on-one encounters, perhaps we should consider adopting a similar approach instead of pushing people away like the young, Christian man who clearly wanted to talk to the evangelist on the video. Remember to "let your gentleness be evident to all" (Philippians 4:5). "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness
and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander" (1 Peter 3:15, 16). Gentleness and respect. Even "sinners" need to be given respect, according to the Bible. Perhaps the young evangelist that tried to engage the street evangelist was trying to tell him something along these lines (he was obviously displeased with the megaphone man's aggressive style). However, we also need to keep in mind that, in North American Christianity, there is a lot of confusion and deception. That older street evangelist may have missed an opportunity to clarify some things for the younger man.
I understood that the street evangelist believed that he was no longer a sinner. And as long as he follows Christ, this is true. "The man who says, 'I know him,' but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (1 John 2:4). However, the possibility to slip back into a worldly way of thinking still remains, if we aren't vigilant. As Jesus said, "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matthew 26:41). And, as always, "if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence -- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One" (1 John 2:1). Perhaps this man's lack of gentleness and respect for "sinners" is such a falling into sin. Thank God we do have a Righteous One who speaks on our behalf.
So, true, we WERE all sinners. However, we aren't anymore. But watch out! Or you may find that you have fallen, as seems to be the case with this street preacher.
The street evangelist was right to quote Jesus as a defence for preaching Hell (the young man in the video was under the misconception that Christ didn't preach about Hell). Jesus mentioned Hell at least a few times in his preaching. However, the young man found it difficult to listen to what the preacher said, considering his microphone was only a few inches from the young Christian's face. Remember gentleness and respect. Don't be one of those described in Psalm 17:10: "They close up their callous hearts, and their mouths speak with arrogance." I fear the street evangelist has drifted in that direction. When someone else left a comment warning him of pride and blindness ("take the log out of your own eye" - Matthew 7:5), he replied, "Yes, I took the log out of my own eye a long time ago..." Pray for this man and people like him so that they can test themselves and repent of their arrogance. And pray that we don't fall into a similar trap, but remain humble as the world around us grows wicked.
Another point of confusion among the comments bellow the video was the issue of alcoholic beverages. To be clear on this, the Bible doesn't necessarily say that it is wrong to drink wine (beer), but it does explicitly say that getting drunk is wrong and sinful (Ephesians 5:18).
I hope this has built you up.

Spiritual Security

Can I lose my salvation? Strangely, this is a question nearly anyone raised in a Christian home asks at some point. In many of the churches I've been in, I have heard, quite emphatically, "You cannot lose your salvation." However, this statement means very little unless the meaning of "salvation" is exposed for its true meaning. First, the Bible never says we need to "get" saved. I like confronting conservative Baptists with this statement: "No one has to get saved." It makes there jaws drop because, in their minds, I have just stated that Jesus Christ is not needed for people to enter eternal life. But that's not what I mean. Let me explain.
The Bible never says "get saved." Never. Rather, it says, "be saved" multiple times (well over 30 in the New Testament books). So salvation, as far as it applies to a sinner's conversion, is a state of being. Salvation is not dependant on a choice one made in the past. God sums up this idea in the book of Ezekiel (33:12-16).

"Therefore, sone of man, say to your countrymen, 'The righteousness of the righteous man will not save him when he disobeys, and the wickedness of the wicked man will not cause him to fall when he turns from it. The righteous man, if he sins, will not be allowed to live because of his former righteousness.' If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live, but then he trusts in his righteousness and does evil, none of the righteous things he has done will be remembered; he will die for the evil he has done. And if I say to the wicked man, 'You will surely die,' but he then turns from his sin and does what is just and right-- if he gives back what he took in pledge for a loan, returns what he has stolen, follows the decrees that give life, and does no evil, he will surely live; he will not die. None of the sins he has committed will be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he will surely live."

Therefore, if someone is righteous and then turns to sin and dies in that state, God will judge him. "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The man who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to pleas the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life" (Galatians 6:7, 8). So the Bible is very clear. If you sin, expect destruction (Hell) and if you live by faith in the Spirit, expect eternal life (Heaven). Don't be a fool and bank on a past decision to save you from Hell. What you do right now is what God is concerned with.
People who seem to think they can sin and escape Hell without sincere repentance often quote John 10:28 and 29, where Jesus, speaking of the eternal life He gives, says, "No one can snatch them out of my hand" and "no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand." They might also mention Romans 8:35-39 which says, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Of course, the context of that verse is obvious. Hardships and persecutions shouldn't worry us because God can protect us. But notice that no sins appear on the list. And the John verses are also clear; Jesus is talking about those God has given him (of course, this brings up the whole "election vs. free-will" debate, that will have to wait for another post).
In summary, because I am running out of time; don't be a fool and keep sinning. Repent before it is too late. Don't think God will be merciful to you simply because you knew what truth was. You need to put your faith in that truth (Jesus' saving grace) and live by it. Secondly, God is more powerful than you could ever imagine. So when you do put your faith in Him, He has power ample enough to keep you from sin, if you just rely on His strength. So the answer to "Can I lose my salvation" is "yes" and "no." To God, who knows all things beginning and end, it is a resounding "no." But to man, who is finite in so manny ways, the answer is "yes." As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13:5, "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test?"

Psalm 116

Sometimes I become exasperated with people. I might overhear someone in the hall telling dirty jokes. And they call themselves Christians? My friends might become angry with one another. Can't we all just get along? One denomination accuses another of heresy. Aren't we all brothers and sisters in Christ? Then, before I know it, I'm giving everyone the cold shoulder; I've embodied the traits that I hate and I've become a fellow grouch. Sometimes I just hate being human.
It was one of those times that I crawled back to my room in the dorms after a hard day of tests. My brother tried to give me some constructive advice but I accused him of being a religious parrot of doctrine and tried to ignore him as I crawled into bed.
I had made a promise to myself at the beginning of the semester that I would read at least one psalm every night. So I got to work on it. Immediately, the words of Psalm 116 started to convict me of my sin. I was desperate, and the psalm spoke my heart. I had been zealous for God when I saw wickedness around me. "I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy" (verse 1). I will always praise the Lord for his kindness to me. I cannot love him enough for what he does for me day to day. "Then I called on the name of the Lord: 'O Lord, save me'" (verse 4)! Sometimes I feel hopeless. It is only when I cry to God that I again feel at peace and he fills me up with his sustaining love and I overflow, splashing it back into his lap with joy. "The Lord protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, he saved me. Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you" (verses 6 and 7). I am not a simplehearted person, naturally. I always try to reason my way through things. However, sometimes God just needs us to empty ourselves of our own knowledge and lean on him. Once we stop struggling to hold up our own head, God will hold it up for us. Why he would do this for a mortal man is beyond me, but he also sent Jesus to die for our sins, and that blows my mind. "And in my dismay I said, 'All men are liars.' How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me" (verse 11)? I have often been in this situation where I become so fed up with the shortcomings of men that I throw humanity to the wind. Of course, all men and women are going to let us down at some point, but we need to remember how good God has been to us for our many shortcomings. Let's demonstrate the same sort of patience for other men. There is so much more to this psalm, I encourage you to read the whole thing.