Tag Archives: Church

Mar 26 2009

Fellowship Dialogue


I just learned that finally a discussion will take place online between “progressives” and “conservatives” in the churches of Christ. Representing the progressives will be Jay Guinn and Todd Deaver and on the conservative side Phil Sanders and Greg Tidwell. I believe each man is able and will fairly represent his believe and will speak for most of those in his camp.

The very first topic will be about just how a person looses his salvation. I will have questions for both sides I am sure. Follow the discussion at http://graceconversation.wordpress.com .

I’m off to the workshop…

Royce

Mar 23 2009

HEBREWS: ANCIENT ENCOURAGEMENT FOR BELIEVERS TODAY, by Edward William Fudge, a review


coverpicheb2In church of Christ circles Edward Fudge is both despised and loved but one thing everyone, including those outside of churches of Christ, can agree on is Edward’s consistant, life long habit of putting the focus of his message and ministry on Jesus Christ our Lord.

I became acquanted with Edward Fudge upon the recommendation of a friend who disagreed with some of my teaching but did so in a loving way. He thought I would enjoy Bro’ Fudge’s gracEmail and he was right about that. Over the past few years I have solicited his opinion, asked him to critique some of my study and conclusions, and have found in him a kindred spirit who is full of grace and love for all who love Jesus.

When Edward asked me to review his latest book, HEBREWS, Ancient Encouragement for Believers Today I was delighted to do so. This great work comes highly recommended and rightly so. It is a verse by verse commentary on the book of Hebrews.

Edward Fudge, always a scholar, has obviously done his work well documenting back ground work, original languages, several translations of Scripture, and acknowledging other authors ideas. But the finished product is as readable as the morning paper. Every pastor/teacher and every person in the pew or behind a podium will want this wonderful resource at arms length when the book of Hebrews is explored and studied.

I especially appreciate the frankness and fairness exhibited throughout the book. In dealing with those passages in Hebrews which have been historically the most controversial and in some cases the most difficult to understand, Fudge has given not only his conclusions but also a very balanced and fair presentation of the most prominent conclusions as well. Unlike many of his peers, Fudge trusts his readers to read and make their own conclusions. This almost unique treatment I really appreciate.

The whole of the volume is rich and encouraging and well worth reading and sharing, but one thing stands out clearly. Jesus is better! He is better than the angels, better than the Levitical Priesthood, better than the animal sacrifices, and His once for all people, once for all time offering of His own body for sinners is quite enough to satisfy completely our Holy Father.

There is no reconciliation without representation. Just as Adam was our representative head and we died when he died, Jesus is now our representative and we died when He died, and rose when He rose, and live because He lives. And, as Edward Fudge beautifully writes, we now have a man (God/man) in heaven who continues to represent us until He comes again to complete our salvation.

Many thanks brother Fudge for the gift of your love and labor. May it bring glory to Christ our Lord.

The book is published by Leafwood Publishers, Abilene, Texas and will soon be available in your favorite book store or you can contact the author at Edward@EdwardFudge.com

Royce Ogle

Mar 20 2009

Smoke on the Mountain


Tonight it was my joy to go with my daughter and a friend to the Strauss Theater here in Monroe to see the musical “Smoke on the Mountain”. What fun! We laughed a lot, we sang a lot, and we were reminded of times gone by and our wonderful Lord.

The setting for the play is the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Mount Pleasant, North Carolina just west of Hickory near the Blue Ridge Mountains in 1939. The 63 member church is hosting a Saturday night singing and the guests are the singing Sanders family from Slier City up on Highway 11.

The actors sang hymns, gospel songs, blue grass gospel tunes, and gave testimony to what Jesus had done for them and lamented hard times and the closing of the pickle factory in Mount Pleasant. It was a wonderful, very entertaining evening. I saw John and Maggie Dobbs and the Riley’s, Chuck Adams who leads my 6:30 a.m. men’s group on Wednesdays, and other friends.

As I enjoyed the show the memories flooded my mind. The Singing Sanders family owned a filling station and they talked about Esso gasoline and selling Ne-Hi colas. And of course the church set was very familiar.

In my late teens and through my twenties I attended many Saturday night signings at little frame churches stuck on the side of a hill up in a hollow in the Blue Ridge. The singers were often family members. I was always amused that at least one of the groups would begin their part of the program by one of them saying something like “We an’t much at singing but we like to make a joyful noise for the Lord“. Well, let me tell you, that disclaimer was usually a prophecy! At least 25%  of them couldn’t sing a lick but they tried, and most of them earnestly believed it was one way they could serve the Lord.

Many, many times I led singing at some little church on the side of road where someone I knew was holdin’ a revival and didn’t have a song leader. I was a pitiful excuse for a song leader but I was glad to try. My wife and I would often sing a couple of songs a cappella like More about Jesus…

More about Jesus I would know, more of His grace to others show.
More of saving fullness see, more of His love who died for me.

More, more about Jesus,
More, more about Jesus;
More of His saving fullness see,
More of His love Who died for me.

A good crowd at those little country churches would be 30 or 40. They were country people who for the most part lived off the land, hard working folks who lived a hard life by today’s standards but they loved God and  were doing what they could for the kingdom.

I have preached to perhaps 15 or 18 and I have preached to several hundred and I had just as much joy sharing my heart with those wonderful, simple people, my people, as when I spoke to 800 or so upper middle class people in the city.

I have seen first hand the power of the gospel of Christ. I’ve seen drunks dried up, men addicted to cheap drugs for years delivered in an instant never to use them again. I have seen rough mountain men like my own father changed from bitterness and hopelessness into humble servants of Christ. I don’t know how to explain it but in those days we were not bothered much by hypocrites. Most of those mountain folks were pretty easy to figure. What you saw was what you got. Most of the time a man was exactly what he claimed he was. Yes, there was few devils about but they were the rare exception. Even our drunkards believed the virgin birth of Jesus and that the Bible was the word of God. Everybody respected the preacher. He was the one who would help them get to heaven, bury their dead, and marry their children. He was without question, God’s man.

I am fortunate to have the heritage that I enjoy and appreciate. I am familiar with folks  who believed the only reason to pray was to get what you asked for. Their word was their bond and nobody locked their doors or took the keys out of their cars. It was  good place to grow up and a good place to meet God and begin what is now my almost 50 years of walking with him.

If you ever have a chance to see “Smoke on the Mountain” I recommend it. You’ll get just a glimpse into my history and get to know my people from the hills.

Grace be with you,
Royce

 

Mar 14 2009

What is Repentance?


“Repent!” was the common message of John the Baptist, of Jesus, and of Peter. Peter having been baptized with the Holy Spirit preached the good news about Jesus to his murderers and the others and they were deeply convicted and convinced of their need of Christ and His forgiveness and cried out “What must we do?” (Acts 2:38) Peter’s answer was “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”.

 

I think it is odd then that some people teach that a sinner must “clean his life up” (repent) before he can become a Christian. And, because of this teaching I have given the good news about Jesus to men who have responded, “I am not good enough yet”, or “I am not ready yet, I need to change some things in my life”. Asking a sinner to change his life is like asking a corpse to wave at you, it is impossible.

 

Repentance is not unlike faith as I discussed in my last post. Repentance is not subjective, but like faith it is objective. Faith’s object is Christ. Acts 2:21 says it well, “testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ”. I made the case that biblical, saving faith, begins at a moment in time and is proved up by corresponding works. In the same way repentance occurs at a moment in time and is proved up by a lifestyle change. Consider these verses that clearly make this clear. Stopping bad behavior and beginning good behavior is not repentance but rather the evidence you have repented.

 

“Bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:8) 

“But declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.” (Acts 26:20) 

Just as with faith, good works show that you have faith, they are not the cause of it, so too good deeds show you have repented, they are not repentance. The person who has truly repented will live differently. His lifestyle will show he has repented.

 

To those who are depending on their own works of righteousness the Hebrew writer said “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God.” (Hebrews 6:1) Here it is clear that repentance and faith are foundational, they are the starting point of becoming a Christian. It should be noted that one of the things a penitent sinner should change is to stop depending on dead works (self righteousness).

 

Repentance, like faith, is given by God. The ability to truly repent is given by God.

 

“God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” (Acts 5:31) 

“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” (Acts 11:18) 

“…Correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth”.(2 Timothy 2:25) 

Only when the Holy Spirit has done His blessed work will a sinner trust Christ and change his mind about the direction of his life. Repentance and faith are so closely joined together that they can’t be understood well apart from each other. No person can fully trust Christ without a change of mind about how he is living. And, no person can fully repent who does not place his trust in Christ.

 

Repentance is no more than a divinely enabled choice to do a mental U-turn. Repentance is to change one’s mind and thus the direction of one’s lifestyle. It is impossible to turn to Christ and not turn away from sin. And it is impossible to turn from sin without turning toward Christ.

 

How can you tell if a person has repented? This is the way the Bible describes it. Jesus spoke to Paul saying in part “I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”
(Acts 26:17, 18) The same truth is stated again “For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” (1Thessalonians 1:9) People who have truly repented will not only have a change of mind but a change of life.

 

The message has not changed. “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30, 31)

 

Jesus Christ will be the measure God uses to judge sinful men. You will both be justified, and finally saved at the resurrection because you have repented and turned to Christ, or you will be lost. Those who depend on their good deeds as a substitute or a supplement to what Christ has accomplished are living dangerously. “Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.” (2 Corinthians 10:12) If you judge yourself to be right with God because of what you do, I ask you, to whom are you comparing yourself? Only when you compare yourself to Jesus’ holy life will you see your need of him. Perhaps it is time to repent.

 

Royce