Author Archives: Royce

Dec 17 2007

Jesus? Whats all the fuss?


The idea of the Trinity is often confusing and difficult for many to understand. I don’t know that any finite being can begin to fully comprehend the awesome central essence of our great Creator God. I do believe however, that we are given quite enough revelation in the pages of the Bible so that we can understand the basic concept of the triune God we love and serve.

One man describes the Trinity this way. “There is one essence (God) and three manifestations of that essence, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”. That is a very concise and clear way to state it. There are not three Gods but one who has revealed Himself in three distinct personalities.

Another illustration might be the following. My father, David Ogle, was at the same time a father, a son, and a husband. He was very real in each of those roles and neither compromised the others. He was one man (essence) but was known (manifested) in three distinct personas.

I believe a basic understanding of the Trinity is necessary before one tackles the Deity of Jesus. It is disturbing to me that many people struggle with questions about Jesus the man. Was He or is He God? If He was or is God, how could he have died? If he was fully God how could he pray to Himself or be in a submissive role while on earth? These questions and more continue to be asked in the minds of many, and not just those who are outside the household of faith, believers have some of the same questions. Can I answer them all? Absolutely I cannot. I can remind us of what the Bible clearly teaches about Jesus and His role as the second person of the Trinity.

The deity of Jesus Christ is regarded by every orthodox theologian as one of the “essentials” of the historic Christian faith. It is “foundational” in its value as a doctrine. It is a “fundamental” doctrine held by those who embrace the basic tenets of the Christian faith who are correctly called “Fundamentalists”, of which I am happily one. Many people today refer to this same group of believers as “Evangelicals”, but the core beliefs are almost exactly the same. One difference is that some who refer to themselves as “Fundamentalists” refuse to fellowship with anyone who does not believe and practice everything to the letter that they believe. The “everything” includes some Bible doctrines that are not “essentials”, or “foundational” teachings. Common consensus is that there are some facts in the Bible that are so important that one who is exposed to them must believe them to be correctly called a Christian. The deity of Jesus is one of those teachings.

Another important thing to keep in mind in addition to the concept of the Trinity is the concept of “roles”. In the Bible, when women are instructed to be submissive to their own husbands, slaves to masters, children are to honor and obey parents, etc. There is no hint, stated or implied, of determining value or worth. The mistaken idea that Jesus was not co-equal with the Father because he was sent to do the will of the Father in no way is a statement about His value, worth, or place in the Godhead. Function never is a measurement of value or worth, for God or for His children.

It is my goal over the course of the next few weeks is to post some of my observations about what the Bible clearly states regarding the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Was, or is He, fully God, or something a bit less? Was he a creation of God the Father? Did He exist before he was born to Mary? Was he really raised from the dead in a body? Where is He today and what is He doing? Is He only our brother or is He our God?

Your input is invited.

Merry CHRISTmas and a prosperous new year.

His peace,
Royce

Dec 13 2007

Singing off key using a pitch pipe made of gopher wood


Several months ago, I was assailed by a few brothers in response a letter I wrote that was published in the Christian Chronicle. In that letter I had not embraced the party line on the subject of singing and music in churches of Christ and Christian churches. After exhausting his other familiar arguments, one brother asked in an email the following question.

   “Could Noah have built the Ark out of Mesquite wood and been pleasing to God?  We follow God instructions and are accepted or we no not follow His instructions and are condemned.  Real simple”

This was his last of a series of emails we exchanged. His view was that any person or congregation that is not acapella is not right with God and should not be the recipients of our fellowship. My reply to him follows.

My dear brother xxxx

May I appeal to your common sense? Taking your line of reasoning to its logical end, one could invent all sorts of sins, and thus reasons to not to “fellowship” lots of folks. The bible says nothing about making the human voice louder by using electronic equipment, but every acapella congregation I have ever visited had a public address system. The bible says nothing about a church building, water coolers, air conditioners, heaters, telephones, church buses, and the list is endless. None of them is sinful just because the bible never mentioned them and musical instruments are not either.

The bible says “I am the Lord, I change not” (Mal 6:3) and, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Hebrews 8:13) The Psalms encourages God’s people again and again to praise God using musical instruments. When did that change? How much more of the Psalms should we disregard today?

Should I fellowship you? Just because you worship in a church that adheres to the church of Christ tradition of acapella singing, is that enough of a reason? Should I also require that you are a “one cupper”? Should I add that you have no Sunday school? They are not mentioned in the bible! Should I check to see if you comply with every other rule that suits my taste?

Or should I fellowship someone who speaks against brothers who love Jesus as much as you do? Should I fellowship a man who is critical of everyone who is not like him? The first fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5 is “love”. Paul talked at great length about the importance of love and the futility of serving God without it. He said even if he became a martyr for the faith without love, he would have failed. I think it is striking that immediately after the famous verses on the supremacy of love Paul said these words.  “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” (1 Cor 13:11) If I am required by my Lord to love my enemies I believe I can manage to love and have fellowship with those who have surrendered their lives to Him, even if they are not like me in some ways. I like Paul’s way better than your way brother. In his letter to the Philippians he said this, “ Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.”  But Paul, do you know they have a piano? Do you know they pool money together with other churches to preach the gospel on foreign soil? Are you aware they have some folks singing while others only listen? But what about the TBN TV network?

Paul would say again, “if Christ is preached I  rejoice, and will rejoice”. I believe I will too.

Royce

We restoration people have much larger fish to fry than what some congregation does on a Lord’s day in some distant city. Before we can hope to be people who embrace scriptural unity we must grow to the place where we can say with Alexander Campbell, “We are only Christians, but not the only Christians”.  And, have the same view of others who claim Jesus as Lord as Paul did.

His peace,
Royce

Dec 4 2007

God-with-us


It is a wonderful thing, but an odd thing, that the Creator God would love His creatures so that He would choose to come and live among them on planet earth. I can’t imagine an earthly king who would one day say to himself “I think it would be good to go out of  the palace, through the courts, and out the gate and go live with the commoners“. Such an idea flies in the face of reason. Why would royalty desire the humble means of those poor souls who are only a harvest away from starvation? How could the one whose servants stand at the ready to care for every detail of need want to come and make his abode with the lowly?

Ah, Christmas, the season when we remember the time when earth was interrupted by the birth of a baby boy. His first hours were lived in the most humble setting, a cattle stall with the smell of dung and odor of the animals near by. Yet this child was a King whose birth had been foretold by the prophets, long years ago. His mother was told He would save His people from their sins, and Matthew reminded the readers of his book that according to Isaiah his name would mean “God-with-us”.

The wonder of Christmas is that not only did a King come for a visit but He came on a mission. Men and women and boys and girls were groping along in the darkness of their sins with no hope of life after the earthly tent was finally folded. But He appeared…”To save His people from their sins”. His life would be short by today’s standards but it was one that perfectly met every holy demand of God the Father’s law. His ministry would be to the human trash of the day to heal brokenness, to give sight to the blind, to make cripples run, jump, and shout for joy. He would raise the dead, feed thousands with enough for only a few.

He would break all the rules of religion, he would squash racial divides, he would talk to the wind….and it would listen. He would round up some unlikely candidates to help Him with His mission. The twelve were truly a cross section of the lower rungs of society. He would laugh and love with them, eat with them, pray with them, minister with them, and then be abandoned by them and even denied and betrayed by them. But, oh how He loved them. But the wonder of this One is that He loved everyone intensely. And, He would die to prove it.

A child was born, a son given, a life lived, a live given. He defeated the forces of darkness by defeating death, by satisfying God’s demands about sin and its penalty, and offers to all who will accept the gift, eternal life. He is the only human who could have justly condemned, but He didn’t come for that. For you see, people were already condemned. No, He came to give life, and forgiveness, and peace.

There are still those who deny Him. Some even declare with their lips that He never even existed. But every one of them declares His life and death every time they write a date on a check, or a note to a friend. No other person in human history has been so opposed as this man. The ultimate oddity is that this man of all men who ever lived would have had opposition. He only gave, and gave, and then gave Himself as a complete payment for every man’s sins and today lives so we too can live.

God-with-us! Merry Christmas.

His peace,
Royce Ogle

Nov 26 2007

Proverbs 19:7


“He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.”

There are several children in Bayou La Batre who will have gifts for Christmas this year. Thanks to the generosity of folks who have worked in the Bayou community many smiles and the laughter of happy kids will be heard on Christmas morning.

There are others who will have little. There isn’t enough money to provide for all of the needy kids yet. For only $100 you can sponsor a child’s Christmas. What better way to spread some joy this year? Perhaps two or three families can go together and give $100. Or, perhaps a Sunday school class will do it. Most of these children live in single parent homes or with poor grandparents. Their lives are very meager.

If you want to give, send a check to 104 Skate Lane, Monroe, LA 71203 made payable to Bayou Recovery Project and I will see that another child will have a Merry Christmas this year.

Thanks for your consideration.

His peace,
Royce Ogle