Mar 23 2011

An unorthodox way to do God’s will


The Riverside Scroll News Corp.

The story of the sudden destruction of Jericho and it’s people along with the invasion of a vast area of land by a huge group of Jews has dominated the news for almost a week. And, just today we learned that other cities and people are being over run with the Jewish people. They reportedly claim to have crossed the river at flood stage on dry ground following their leader, a fellow named Joshua, and some Jewish priests who were carrying some sort of a model of the fabled ark of Noah.

Yesterday one of our reporters (name withheld at the reporters request) was able to interview a man who was with the invaders. He agreed to answer a few questions on the record and his answers left us more confused than before. Following is a transcript of the interview.

Reporter: Are you one of the Jews who supposedly crossed the river on dry ground and destroyed the walled city of Jericho?

Jew: Yes

Reporter: Do you expect our readers to believe that you crossed this river at flood stage and didn’t get wet?

Jew: No

Reporter: What role did you play in this whole unbelievable chain of events?

Jew: Oh, that is easy sir. I followed the priests who were carrying the ark of the covenant and when their feet touched the water it…..well it sort of…..it just piled up! And we walked across.

Reporter: …..Really??

Jew: You asked what happened, thats what happened.

Reporter: Were you a participant in the destruction of Jericho and the slaughter of its people and animals?

Jew: Are you a cop?

Reporter: No, of course not, I am just a news reporter.

Jew: Yes sir, I was there.

Reporter: What was your role in that event?

Jew: You’re going to think I’m lying…

Reporter: Go ahead, tell me, the people want to know about this.

Jew: Who is your God?

Reporter: I’m asking the questions, OK? Please answer my question.

Jew: OK then. I walked around in circles and shouted as loud as I could.

Reporter: Go ahead…

Jew: Thats it! Thats all I did. Oh, after the walls fell flat I took a sword and killed a few people, one ox, and two sheep. Thats about all I can think of.

Reporter: Do you have a history of mental illness? Who do you expect to believe that?

Jew: My God promised my ancestors this land, many, many years ago. And, my father died in the wilderness on the way here to posses this land of promise. A few days ago, our Jehovah fulfilled his promise. There is nothing he can’t do. Stack water, make sound waves tear down great stone walls. He can even….

Reporter: I have heard enough. Thanks for your time.

Jew: Whatever

The leaders of the surrounding countries have heard all sorts of rumors and are trying to decide what can be done if anything. People are afraid of the God of the Jews. If these stories are true? Well, in the opinion of this writer there is very little chance much of what has been reported is true. Only time will tell I suppose.

Mar 14 2011

The Erosion of Truth


It is not a little disturbing that casting doubt on the veracity of the Holy Scriptures and Bible characters has in the past few years become quite in vogue. I read tweets and posts on Facebook, and many blogs, and there are more and more young preachers and others who are fascinated with those well trained graduates of institutions of higher learning who have reached the conclusion that the Bible is not really true after all, at least not all of it.

I have heard it said that history repeats itself and that there nothing new under the sun. How very true! Decades before most of those who are most admired, and those who admire them, were born I was living in a time when theological liberals, called “modernists” back in the day, were busy with higher criticism, discovering extra-biblical writings and other evidences which according to them proved the Bible is not really reliable. I’ll perhaps never forget when a few years ago I learned first hand that in our churches of Christ we had some preachers who did not believe the resurrection of Jesus, believed Jesus was just a man, although admittedly a better man than others. And more recently there is a host of men whose sport is to cast doubt on the truth and authority of Holy Writ.

My observation is that most of these guys are more impressed with themselves than anyone or anything else. It is very difficult to shroud pride isn’t it? I have always been a skeptic. There…my admission! With that said, I am a bit reluctant to trust a man who spends hours every day promoting himself, what he knows, and what he does, and what he has done, and …. Well, you get the picture.

(Just to get it off my chest… A person with a British accent, or whatever that Geico salamander has, is not necessarily more brilliant than those who don’t have it.)

So, why in the wide wide world would anyone believe that God hates sin? Further, why in the age of enlightenment we live in would someone believe those who refuse to believe God’s truth are objects of His coming wrath? I’ll admit it, I don’t understand much of the last book of the Bible. And, I’m not the one to ask about final punishment. But I am sure that the same Holy Spirit who by revelation gave the great Apostle Paul the mysterious gospel of the grace of God to be preached to the Gentiles also revealed the truth to him about the sure wrath of a Holy God against sin. I don’t claim for a second to know what all that means, but rest assured it is not good.

The aged and experienced apostle Paul had some words of instruction and warning for a young preacher.

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:1-5)

Of course it was happening in the first century just as it is today and it is still a real danger. It seems to come in waves, waves of unbelief couched in church talk and verified with seminary degrees and best-selling books. Paul’s warning to young Timothy was “Be sober-minded…” Good advice in 2011 I’d say.

I fear that for many of our people there is more value in reading what someone said about God and the Bible than to really know God and actually read the Bible! One of the “markers” or indicators of a true Christian is that he loves the “teaching”. That is the body of truth the apostles taught.

We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
(1 John 4:6)

Clearly, the “us” in the above verse is the apostles. This is not a difficult concept. One way you can tell a believer from a make-believer is by observing how he receives the Word of God. If a fellow has lots of problems with Paul and Peter and John…you had better watch him! And, we have lots of people leading people away from the apostles teaching rather than to the apostles teachings. I didn’t write either of these Bible passages but both are true and good advice for today.

Be careful! Everyone who looks like a sheep is not. I would go so far as to say any preacher who does not major on Jesus and what He accomplished for ungodly sinners should be taken in small bites at best. Instead, many of our unknowing people are taking them down a leg at a time.

If the Bible is not dependable we have no hope. Those who are making the case for moral improvement as a way to be fit for heaven and to avoid final punishment are deceitful liars, they are from the evil one and not from God.

Unbelief by any other name is still a recipe for perishing without God.

For Truth,

Royce

Mar 1 2011

The Sure Word of the God Who Chooses


Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3)

The “I will” of God is repeated five times in the call of Abram, the man God chose to be the one through whom the nations would be blessed. Why this man? Because he was God’s choice! Is there any doubt, as God made those promises to Abram, that Abram would go as he was asked?  He could have said to him “You will go…” and the end would have been the same.

  • I will show you where to go.
  • Your descendents will become a great nation.
  • I will bless you.
  • I will make your name great.
  • You will be a blessing.
  • I will bless those who bless you.
  • I will curse those who dishonor you.
  • Through you all the families of the earth will be blessed.

How much of this depended on Abram’s choices? Evidently not much. He took God at his word and this 75-year-old man took his wife and his nephew, and all their earthly goods, and set out on a journey without a clue where they were going. All Abram knew at this point was that God had promised. God’s promise is quite enough for people of faith. What God promises He brings to fruition.

This Bible story and the point by point fulfillment of every facet of God’s I will’s to Abram raises a profound question. Has God chosen me?

Even the question makes most of my friends quite nervous. No question I can think of polarizes Christians like God’s choice vs man’s free will. I was once there myself. My feet were firmly planted on the free will side and the God’s choice side was almost classified as my enemy. And then, over the course of a couple of decades I found myself shifting to the other side and just as I was setting my feet in concrete there…, I realized there is a third choice, a better way. Both are true! The Bible teaches both views so I can’t take a side, I must take God’s side, and since the Bible is His revelation to us, my assignment is to believe the Bible, even when it is uncomfortable.

The Bible says God chooses.

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Who are those who love God? They are those called according to His purpose. Then there is the next few verses.

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30)

What do we say about this? What should we say about it? God is for us, who then can be against us?

What about these passages?

Romans 11:4-8 But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”  So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.”

2 Timothy 1:8,9 “Do not be ashamed then of testifying to our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but take your share of suffering for the gospel in the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not in virtue of our works but in virtue of his own purpose and the grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus ages ago.”

2 Thessalonians 2:13 “But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.”

1 Corinthians 1:26-30 “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written,“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.

Acts 13:47.48 “For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, ‘I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth.'” And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of God; and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.

These are but a few of scores and scores of verses in the Bible that address the question of God’s choice. Is man responsible? Of course he is. Can a man reject Christ and the gospel? He can, and many do. Does a person have free will? He does, it is one way we are made in God’s image.

So, as of today, I find myself in an odd position. I am not a good Calvinist. I disagree with much of what 5 pointers teach. And, I am not a good Armenian either, because they lean too heavily upon man’s will in my view.

What am I then. I am a 65-year-old who has studied the Bible for about 50 of those years. I have concluded that I do not have the luxury of cherry picking what parts of the Bible I will believe and accept as God’s truth to me. My place is to believe all of it the best I can with my limited understanding. So I choose to not pick a side, other than God’s.

I am certain of this. God’s purpose is far greater than mine. In fact, I have no purpose except for His. It is His purposes that gives my life purpose, advises my faith, and gives me blessed assurance that I am loved by God. I have nothing about which I can boast. I will boast only in the Lord Jesus Christ the crucified, risen, and coming Lamb of God who has made me His own.

Royce Ogle




Feb 25 2011

…From the Archives – Hiring a Preacher


In April of last year I published a post titled “Questions churches should ask when hiring preachers but don’t”. It continues to be read every day. Almost daily someone finds this post by putting a phrase much like this one in a search engine, “what questions to ask a preacher”.

Since for some unknown reason I seem to have less and less time for writing I decided to repost some of my most read posts. This one is about #3 all time most visited.
*_______________________*

I recently read four want ads posted by churches who were trying to find a preacher. The man with the cape could never do all these churches expect. I once wrote a parody of such a want ad. It is astonishingly stupid to ask so much of one man! But that is not the focus of this post.

The ads are dead give-aways of the questions the pulpit search committee will likely ask.

  • Where were you educated and what degree have you earned?
  • How long have you been a minister?
  • What churches have you served and did they grow?
  • Are you married?
  • Have you been divorced?
  • Do you have children?
  • Are your finances in order?
  • What is your vision for a church you serve?
  • Can you live on $***** per month?
  • Etc., etc., etc.

And of course they will want to hear the guy preach, either by a recorded sermon or perhaps in person. The questions above have very little to do with the ministry of leading a church as a preacher, pastor/teacher, or whatever your group calls him.

I have served twice on search committees and both times we hired good, godly men. I have also been used as a reference by ministers seeking a job. One fellow from Arkansas called me to ask about a candidate he and his fellow committee members were considering. He asked “Is he a dynamic pulpit man?” I answered with a question, “Why is that important to you?” My question was met with an uncomfortable silence and then he finally sounded apologetic and unsure saying, “Because we want a very good preacher?”

I explained to this guy that a very good orator, with great credentials, can be a lazy jerk who does all that he does in the energy of the flesh and can not help grow Christians toward maturity and Christ likeness. I suggested that the man go back to his committee and that they should have an extended time of prayer and seeking the mind of the Lord about what their church needed and then interview preachers. Of course he didn’t listen to my advice, and neither did my friend who I tried to talk out of taking the job and it was a disaster! They were the most immature bunch you could imagine. They made the Corinthians look really good!

What churches ought to ask.

  • How do you know you are a Christian? (If he doesn’t answer this one right the interview would be over and I would want to share the gospel with him.)
  • How did you make the decision to become a minister?
  • Tell us about your prayer life? Do you have specific answers to prayer?
  • How much time do you spend in an average week in Bible study?
  • Are you walking in the Spirit?
  • If we hire you will you love our people? (People can tell if you love them or if you are just doing your job.)
  • Is your vision to help us grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ, to know him more? (If not what is it?)
  • Do you preach the gospel, regularly and often?
  • How many people have you shared the gospel with in the last 6 months one on one?

There are more, but you get the idea. You see, most churches want a polished preacher who is brilliant and funny in the pulpit, loved and respected by everyone in town, and they want their numbers to increase, both in members and money. And, they often get exactly what they want.

What is your church (or mine) doing for the people of your community that could not be done by a good civic club? The mission of the church is to make men fit for heaven. If lives are not regularly being changed, if spiritual transformation is not changing sinners into saints, if the hungry are not fed, if the mourners have no one to weep with them, if the prisoners have no visitors, if people are not having personal encounters with the living Christ, when your church needs a preacher the first list of questions will do just fine.

If you want a man who is a man of God, who knows God intimately, loves people where they are, like they are, and has no greater passion than to introduce men and women and boys and girls to the living Christ, maybe the first list of questions are not the right ones.

Royce