Tribulation worketh Patience

Sometimes, when tribulations are pressing in on every side, it can become difficult to believe that the Lord knows exactly what he is doing. Our sight is so limited, that often we only see despair, believing that God has abandoned us and He will not keep his promise to work all things out for our good, (Rom. 8:28-29). Let us not forget, in spite of what we can see, or even reason, that our Creator, our Father, is sovereign, and while working for the advancement of His kingdom, even when things seem darkest, he is working for our ultimate good.

When I meet someone who seems to have lost hope, it is evident physically and verbally. You can take away a man's job, and he will do what he must to survive. Let a husband abandon a wife, and she will pull herself closer to her children and parents, but destroy the hope of either one of these people and you will watch them move toward despair.

We as a people of God have no reason to despair, even in the midst of tribulations. Once we have landed on the unchanging word of God, and determined to believe it, above our subjective experiences, we can with great hope and confidence face the most confusing circumstances.

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Years Spent in Vanity and Pride...

Dwight Moody believed a college dedicated to teaching Bible truth was critical. It was D.L. Moody who realized the importance of raising up the next generation to carry the gospel and thus founded this school. Moody chose his friend and co-worker, Dr. R.A. Torrey to be the first president of the Institute. In 1905, Dr. Torrey shared a story about a rebellious teenager who eventually became the inspiration for the writing of that grand old hymn, At Calvary. The story goes like this:

When I was president of the Moody Bible Institute, I received a letter from a very concerned pastor who told me of a son who was causing himself and his family a great deal of trouble. His life was really mixed

And the father felt that attendance at Moody would help. I advised the father that even though I sympathized with him, for I was a father; yet, because I was running a Bible school and not a reform school, I had to deny his request. After many letters of pleading his cause, I finally gave in with the stipulation that the rebellious teen must see me each day and make every effort to abide by the rules and requirements of the Institute.

Torrey went on to say that the boy faithfully visited his office each day; and with wisdom from God’s word, he answered the questions that had been keeping the boy from God. Finally, after many months of counseling, the prayers of the boy’s father were answered when young William R. Newell received Jesus Christ as his personal Savior.

Thirty years later, as a teacher at Moody, Mr. Newell was recounting those turbulent years as a rebellious teen; and as he was rejoicing in his salvation, the words of a poem flooded his mind. His mind was filled with a word picture of what had happened in his life and also in the lives of all those who surrender to Christ. The new man in Christ could now write:

Years I spent in vanity and pride

Caring not my Lord was crucified

Knowing not it was for me He died

On Calvary

O the love that drew salvation’s plan

O the grace that brought it down to man

O the mighty gulf that God did span

At Calvary

The world's accolades...

"The world pays scantily indeed. What will it do for those it loves best? When it has done all it can, the last resource of the world is to give a man a title and what is that? And then to give him a tall pillar and set him up there to bear all weathers, to be pitilessly exposed to every storm; and there he stands for fools to gaze at..." Charles Spurgeon

Let us be careful of desiring accolades from the world. The best they can give is not near the least that God can render to man. Our hopes and treasures should be laid up somewhere else, other than here. Once we amass all we can, stand back and look at it and count it as ash. For dear one, it shall be ash on that great day. The only thing that will survive will be what was done for Christ.
May God be glorified. Soli Deo Gloria

When Method matches the Message.

When Method Matches the Message


The pulpit was ablaze and one could almost feel the emotions being poured forth from the podium. Bible open, hand uplifted, the message was solid, the words were pure, and no man dared dispute him. When we attend conferences and revivalist meetings, often times we come away with more than a strengthened resolve and encouraged heart, we come away with a false sense of methodology. Here is how this works: The preacher preaches a strong line on the family, the importance of the Scriptures and loyalty to church. We see the size or we perceive that the size, of the ministry he is involved in to be large. One leaves believing that preacher is a family integrationist by the great importance he places on the family unit. He even says, "I am a husband first, a preacher last." That sounds so good, in fact we begin to repeat the mantra, (even though we may have not been living it out in our own lives.) That is the conundrum. When does our method match our message.


For what it is worth, I have committed to making sure the church I pastor does not fall into the trap of fluff. I know, one man's fluff is another man's ministry. What one preacher calls fluff, another calls "useful method". Whether it be preaching, music, bus ministries, awana clubs or basket weaving, we tend to spiritualize the acts and suggest that in and of themselves, they are fine, as long as the end justifies the means. "Hey, the fact of the matter is evident: we are trying to get people to come to church, right?" Wrong. We are trying to preach Christ and Him crucified. Those who come to church ought to be the ones who Christ has already called to himself. Only the Saved can worship in Spirit and Truth. Yes, the world can worship, no doubt. But they cannot enter into the holy of holies and worship the one true God. Without the Spirit of God, there is no true worship. Yet, we bend all we do in the church many times to accommodate those "without the Spirit." We put fluff in place to make them comfortable, and hope they stick around long enough to "get saved." The church no longer goes, but rather sends out invitations.


What am I wanting in Worship? I am wanting what God wants in worship. Not what I want. If I got what I wanted, and if I were pleased with what I had, without regard to God's direct desires, I am only worshipping my own self-interests.


It is a hard thing for a preacher who loves to preach, to know that he could amp up the music just a bit, change the format to be a bit more man centered, and provide a few more "community based" activities to draw in a crowd. "Hey, I have never stopped preaching the same message!" But when, dear preacher, does the "Method match the Message". If you say you love families, why do you divide them? If you say you love the Word, why does it get supplanted by the emotionalism of the music ministry? If you say that Preaching is the primary activity in a church, why then is the pulpit secondary, or even further down the list of what is promoted in the church? Because we know, the lost world will not say, "Hey, I hear that they have a great pulpit ministry down there at Emmanuel, lets go check it out!"


Dr. Bruce Bickel states in his book Light and Heat"With the increase of communication equipment and an emphasis on communication skills, Bible studies, small groups and sharing are increasingly sought as the route to revitalizing the church, while faith in the pulpit fades and grows dim. Consequently, more emphasis is being placed on methodology and less on the message." Again, When does the Method match the Message? The answer is clear, "When it brings people in, and not before."


So, preachers fill their pulpits each week and proclaim, "I will not compromise the message from this pulpit, you can boot me out, but I am standing on the word!" The congregation shouts "AMEN!, but don't you dare allow your message to affect the methodology we practice here." The message, some suppose belongs in the pulpit, along with the messenger, but the method belongs to us, the people, "Why, that is the whole reason we are here!" I know Emmanuel has not arrived, but I want to be on the correct train, heading in the right direction.


Let us have a strong defense of the Word of God, but let us be careful not to diminish that with a low esteem of the message. We show a disregard and low esteem of the message, when it does not translate from out of the pulpit, to the methods practiced in the church. Crowds or not.

“Feeding Sheep or Amusing Goats?”

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon 1834-1892
An evil is in the professed camp of the Lord, so gross in its impudence, that the most shortsighted can hardly fail to notice it during the past few years. It has developed at an abnormal rate, even for evil. It has worked like leaven until the whole lump ferments. The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them.
From speaking out as the Puritans did, the church has gradually toned down her testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of reaching the masses.
My first contention is that providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the church. If it is a Christian work, why did not Christ speak of it? "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). That is clear enough So it would have been if He had added, "and provide amusement for those who do not relish the gospel." No such words, however, are to be found. It did not seem to occur to him.
Then again, "He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers .., for the work of the ministry" (Eph. 4:11-12). Where do entertainers come in? The Holy Spirit is silent concerning them. Were the prophets persecuted because they amused the people or because they refused? The concert has no martyr roll.
Again, providing amusement is in direct antagonism to the teaching and life of Christ and all his apostles. What was the attitude of the church to the world? Ye are the salt" (Matt. 5:13), not the sugar candy---something the world will spit out not swallow. Short and sharp was the utterance, "Let the dead bury their dead" (Matt. 8:22) He was in awful earnestness.
Had Christ introduced more of the bright and pleasant elements into his mission, he would have been more popular when they went back, because of the searching nature of His teaching. I do not hear him say, "Run after these people Peter and tell them we will have a different style of service tomorrow, something short and attractive with little preaching. We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it. Be quick Peter, we must get the people somehow." Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them.
In vain will the Epistles be searched to find any trace of this gospel of amusement! Their message is, "Come out, keep out, keep clean out!" Anything approaching fooling is conspicuous by its absence. They had boundless confidence in the gospel and employed no other weapon.

Submission 101: The class of "living with other humans"

From time to time we are brought to a point of conflict with those around us. Realistically, any time we are in contact with others of the human race, we run the risk of conflict. There are very few, if any, times that I deal with others that I do not find myself, on one level or another, in disagreement with them. It is not that they are fundamentally wrong, or that I have a backwards view of the subject. They may simply like salty, and I like sweet. Or blue is preferable over orange. There are many times we see subjects from different perspectives as well. Politics, automobiles, sports teams, even grocery stores all serve as potential points of conflict. In the local church, we find many areas that differences are equally evident. Whatever the matter may be concerning the church, administration, or even dealing with personalities, we must remember what Jesus told us: He reminded us that even the heathen love those that love them in return. But we are called to love our enemies. So it is with that note, we see it is easy to submit to someone when we are in exact agreement with them. Submission only really becomes full orbed when we disagree with those in authority over us. Then what? Well, this is what true submission really is: Someone saying, “I am in authority, I want it this way, now do it.” Then we do what we are asked. Most people never have trouble with Bible submission until they are asked to do something contrary to what they desire. Let us labor to live peaceable with all men, particularly those of the household of faith. While things may not be just as we would like it in our assembly, most likely our homes and our places of employment, and even our country is not being run exactly as we would choose, but we would never want to leave any of them! Labor therefore in love, one with another!

What is a Shepherd to do? A parable.

Imagine if you will for a moment. The shepherd wakes in the morning, dew has settled on everything about him. He shakes the moisture off the blanket that protected him from the elements during the night. Sleep was brief snatches of rest so as not to loose awareness of where the sheep were, or who or what may have tried to creep up in the night and take one unawares. Constantly on guard, the shepherd also had to watch for those who might wander. Night was really not a time to fear that, they were skittish at night and would not dare stray far when they were frightened. As a matter of fact, they huddled close during those times. He almost wished they were fearful more often, as it would be easier to keep up with them. Day breaking, he knew his work would be busy. You see, the sheep he was herding were of a new breed. Each one had his own goals and ideas about grazing. One would run to the other side of the meadow to graze, while her lamb would be left by the pool of water, alone, unprotected. Others would group together near the wolf’s den to simply watch. Oh they didn’t want to wander in they just wanted to see what was happening there. Oft times though, one would stray to near and find himself in the clutches of the wolf. The others would simply move away, saddened, but quickly would return to watch again. As a shepherd, he wandered over the meadow, continuously monitoring all the movements of the sheep. After all, it was his job to protect them. He was to dwell with them and take the oversight of them. Point them in the right direction. As a matter of fact, the Great Shepherd had left command that he even feed the flock, and protect them from the wolves. The problem was, none of the sheep cared for any of that. Until there was trouble. Then they were looking for the shepherd. One day, many grievous wolves had made their way into the flock. The shepherd heard the cry and rushed forward to protect the sheep, only to find out that some of the sheep had welcomed the wolves in as friends and even made them part of the family. Before long the sheep were even more scattered, and the shepherd exhausted, fell weary and collapsed from the strain and was overcome by a wolf himself. Recovering in the local hospital he said to his dear wife, “ I did all I could. The sheep would not listen. I warned them of the wolves, I warned them to stay close to the shepherd, I warned them about leaving their little ones unattended and being so busy that they would not have time to become good sheep, and hear my voice. I quit. It is all too sad for me. I cannot go on like this.” He resigned as the shepherd and began a new career. Feeling like it was the Great Shepherds will all along to desert the flock and leave them to some other poor unsuspecting shepherd.