Sep 21 2009

Where Then Is Boasting?


humility

I will not take the time to give historical info as to how the two schools of thought called Calvinism and Armenians came to be. I’m sure that most of the readers of Grace Digest know the story. The bottom line is Calvinists believe that God chooses individuals to be his own and draws them to himself granting repentance, faith, and obedience. The other camp, Armenians, put the emphasis on man’s free will, man’s faith, and man’s obedience.

I am not a 5 point Calvinist but I do believe the following things.

God decides who is going to believe before they actually believe.

This is clearly illustrated in Acts 13:48.

“Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed”.

It was not the faith of the listeners that caused them to be appointed to eternal life but the opposite. It seems from the text that all the people were glorifying God but out of the crowd only those appointed to eternal life believed.

Again in Acts we can find the same thing. Acts 11 records Peter’s report to the elders about the conversion of Gentiles. After he explained that they received the gift of the Holy Spirit just like he did (when he believed) verse 18 says,

“When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

Those 1st Century men understood that God enables sinners to have a change of mind and believe the good news. God always initiates the work of redemption in a person’s life. In both of these accounts in the book of Acts it is also clear that not everyone is “appointed to eternal life” and not everyone has “been granted repentance”.

Dead men have no will.

Ephesians chapter 2 is one of my favorite passages of the Bible. Read the inspired words of Paul about the condition of sinners and how God saves them.

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins  in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—  among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.  But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,  even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,  so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

How terrible, how awful, and how hopeless our sinful state? All of those who are unsaved and all of us before we were saved were spiritually dead, walking in trespasses and sins, following the devil and his rule in the world, living out the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of our bodies and minds”. If that were not bad enough he says too “we were by nature children of wrath”. That is total depravity! It is the picture of sinners who are hopelessly lost and unable to help themselves.

Now the good news, God is a God of mercy and grace! We were like all of mankind in our sad condition but because of God’s mercy and love he “made us alive”! He did not make all of mankind alive, just “us”, the same ones he had chosen in chapter 1.

So the wonderful parenthetical phrase in verse 5 “By grace you have been saved”!

 He raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly places, why? He tells us why. “

V7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus”.

Never forget this, our salvation is not about us, it is about him and his glory. He does not need me or you but we must have him.

This great salvation is not our doing, not apprehended by our works; we can lay no claim to our eternal state in Christ. You and I contributed to our salvation in the same way Lazarus contributed to his resurrection when Jesus made him alive, not a whit! We can only give God glory because of his great love and mercy.

God saves at this own discretion.

1 Peter 2:9-10 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.  Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy”

Why us and not them? Why did we receive mercy and others didn’t?

1 Peter 2:  “So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,

   “The stone that the builders rejected
   has become the cornerstone,” 8and
   “A stone of stumbling,
   and a rock of offense.”   

   They stumble because they disobey the word, as they  were destined to do”.

How can I read this plain teaching and disagree that some are destined to disobey the word? I can not and I will not.

I don’t understand fully the God I serve but I do know some things. I don’t have to know a “why”, mine is only to trust.

For Jesus,

Royce

Sep 16 2009

Riding into the sunset


This past June I had my 64th birthday. Whoop to do! For some reason I don’t understand, I am looking forward to being 65, sort of in the way I looked forward to being 18 and 21. I’m not sure why, I already get $.27 coffee and a discounted fishing license, but I like the idea of finally being old. Or, I might raise the bar to 70 just to defy everyone who talks down pork grease like it was liquid anthrax.

Do I eat healthy foods? Yes, three times a day or more. If it grows on a tree, a vine, or a stem, walks, crawl, swims, or flies I’ll eat it. Do I run? Not since I earned enough money to buy a car. Exercise? If you just have to know I just exercised my right arm and hand about 30 times eating a huge bowl of ice cream with so much sugar most people would go comatose. I know that one day someone will discover that what I have suspected is really true, that pork grease is the natural lubricant for the human body. Yes, I know the kind of eating I do kills folks. Some of my uncles were almost 90 when it finally got them. When they died they had enough grease in them to lube a freight train.

Have you ever wondered why old people are grouchy? Maybe it’s because they are sick of hearing young people whine about a slow computer or an unwanted noise at 75 in their Hummer. It’s because they know that almost everyone much younger than them don’t have a clue what a real problem is. Your opening in your built in cabinet in the family room is too small for a flat screen TV the size of the right side of a JB Hunt trailer? Boo hoo.

My body is literally wearing out from too many miles and low maintenance and some gal at McDonald’s looks like I have just banished her to a concentration camp because I want to order a Big ‘n Nasty meal deal. Pain is my constant companion of late so for some unknown reason I am not too sympathetic that a cashier at Office Depot broke a nail. I am so old school that I expect sales people to at least act like they appreciate it when I buy their goods and services. Why can’t people smile? Is it asking too much to expect someone, anyone, to appreciate that I am giving them my business?

One more pain in my back for good measure. Most people are not nearly as smart as they think they are. Some nerdy dude graduates from college with razor thin margin above dismal failure and thinks he is a mental giant superior to the peasants. I learned some things in school but it was bumping up against reality that taught me what is really important. One of the flaws of being young is that you think you know too much to learn from some older person’s mistakes. You just have to make a fool of yourself to get it. I guess thats the way it’s always been.

If you have reached the place in life where a vehicle is a tool to get your butt from point A to point B, and is not a status symbol, you are probably getting older. It seems that the younger a fellow is the more fragile his ego. That is a truth of life and a sad one because is costs lots of cash and broken hearts to keep an ego polished. I am quite content with the scars on mine. I am satisfied just being Royce Ogle.

I’m about to go to bed and sleep like a puppy. I have a great wife, good kids and grand kids, and if I don’t wake up I’ll have an even better deal than you. For almost 50 years of stumbling along, sometimes falling, going the wrong way, missing turns in the road, and most of the time having sweet fellowship, I have been following Jesus. The one area of my life of which I am most sure is that I belong to God, that He keeps His promises and that some day I’ll see Jesus face to face. My confidence is not in Royce but wholly in the God who promised.

Over six decades of living says to this old man what really matters is how you answer this question day by day, “What about Jesus?”

Royce

Sep 15 2009

No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus


No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus

Words and Music: C.F. Weigle

I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus,
Since I found in Him a friend so strong and true;
I would tell you how He changed my life completely,
He did something that no other friend could do.

No one ever cared for me like Jesus,
There’s no other friend so kind as He;
No one else could take the sin and darkness from me,
O how much He cared for me.

All my life was full of sin when Jesus found me,
All my heart was full of misery and woe;
Jesus placed His strong and loving arms about me,
And He led me in the way I ought to go.

No one ever cared for me like Jesus,
There’s no other friend so kind as He;
No one else could take the sin and darkness from me,
O how much He cared for me.

Ev’ry day He comes to me with new assurance,
More and more I understand His words of love;
But I’ll never know just why He came to save me,
Till some day I see His blessed face above.

No one ever cared for me like Jesus,
There’s no other friend so kind as He;
No one else could take the sin and darkness from me,
O how much He cared for me.

This song one of my favorites of all time. After coming back from the depths of despair and regaining his vibrant faith Charles Weigle wrote this beautiful song.

It tells my story, expresses my heart, and gives Christ glory. The dear man who wrote both the lyrics and music lived his last 15 years  in a cottage at Tenn. Temple University in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was a friend and mentor to many and became a favorite person of both the students and faculty. He wrote over 1,000 songs in addition to preaching the good news of Jesus many, many years. What a wonderfully blessed legacy!

Listen to the song here: Youtube by Signature Sound.

Royce

Sep 10 2009

On Mission with God


The humble saints who worship at the Hemley Road church of Christ will probably never set foot in a foreign country. The economy in Bayou La Batre, Alabama is awful with unemployment at many times the rest of the nation. They are truly living by faith, trusting God day by day to provide the means to run church vans to gather children and those without transportation, pay utilities, and feed the hungry, etc. How then can this little flock carry out the great commission given to all believers?

They have been faithful with what they have been given and without realizing it have become a model of church ministry. They are salt and light in their community, loving the down and out folks, rebuilding homes and lives, feeding the hungry, and loving those who need love most. And, they are touching the world.

I noticed with admiration that soon after they became a local church they started to give to World Radio, helping to get the good news about Jesus to a needy world. Recently, their ministry became international. No, they have not been on a mission trip across the sea, God brought Bolivia to them.

When Carol and I visited Hemley Rd Easter weekend three men from Bolivia attended services. They had recently moved to Bayou La Batry to work in a sea food packing plant. None of the three men spoke English. So, they communicated with the universal language of love. Smiles and hugs, shared meals, and rides to Wal-Mart were some of the ways they loved these foreigners. At once they started to imagine ways to reach them with the good news about Jesus and they have.

One of the men, Roberto, was recently baptised. This past Sunday when I spoke at the church a young hispanic man stood with me and interpreted my message to those in the audience who only understand Spanish. This young man is the son of the Summerdale church’s hispanic minister. They have song books with both English and Spanish, side by side.

One expression of Roberto’s gratitude and affection for his new family is this beautiful mural he painted behind the baptistery where he reenacted the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

bapt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
This is a wonderful example of Christians seeing what God is doing and joining him in his mission. God’s agenda most often cannot be accomplished by plans and programs. By being faithful with what they have been given the church in Bayou La Batre has been able to touch Bolivia. Who knows what God will do in the lives of Roberto’s family and friends in Bolivia?

What is the lesson here? Become aware of what God is doing and join him in that mission. No program, no planning, is better than what God is already doing. When will you or your church have an opportunity to join God in his redemptive work. Your “Roberto” is waiting…

for Jesus,
Royce