Responding to Laws We Don’t Like

by Bruce Mills

A few days ago a Christian friend of mine received a traffic citation for not wearing his seat belt when driving his car.  He was incensed, giving the usual complaints about the enforcement of such safety laws as a waste of law enforcement’s time (“they should be catching true bad guys instead of harassing fathers taking their children to the park”) and being a violation of a driver’s freedom of choice (“this is the land of the free, isn’t it?”).  Another Christian friend (and lawyer) interacted with him very effectively regarding the legal aspects of his offense and why it is important to have such laws and to enforce them, but I think there is a much bigger issue at stake here than most believers ever realize.

The point is that there are many laws about which there is disagreement as to their validity or their enforcement.  But whether the government should enforce certain laws and not others is not the issue.  The issue is that obedience to those laws is not an option for the believer.  Christians are to willingly and joyfully submit to those laws, even if they disagree with them.  Why?  Because the government which passed those laws is ordained by God (Rom. 13:1) and anyone who resists the government’s authority is living in disobedience to God (Rom. 13:2).  The apostle Paul goes on to say that it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of what actions the government might take against us, but also for the sake of our conscience (Rom. 13:5).  In other words, we are not to obey the law only because we might get caught, but also because doing so violates our God-given conscience which helps us discern right and wrong.  Disobedience to the law is an act of non-submission to God-ordained authority over us and thus, a sin.  Only when the government commands us to do something which violates something God has commanded us in His Word to do are we ever authorized to disobey the law (Acts 5:28-29).

But what about my friend’s argument that law enforcement should utilize their assets more effectively by apprehending “true bad guys” instead of nabbing fathers driving their children to play time at the park?  Again, the issue is not whether we disagree with how the government is spending the tax dollars it receives.  No matter what law you may pick, you can always find someone who thinks it is a waste of time to enforce it.  And there are many expenditures which the government makes which I personally believe are a waste of resources which could be better used elsewhere.  However, we must return to the point that Christians are called to submit to our government and obey its laws—even those with which we disagree or those which we believe are unimportant.  Our submission to those laws provides us the opportunity to demonstrate to a watching world that followers of Jesus Christ are not shrill, disrespectful whiners who want our own way and think the laws are good for others, but not for us.  The apostle Peter instructed us that obedience to every authority and law is “the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men” (1 Peter 2:15). In other words, we should put those who oppose and attack us to shame by our example of submission and obedience to the law.  And we need to recognize that when we violate those laws, we deserve the consequences of the government’s decision to enforce those laws.

Now, let me give credit where credit is due to my friend.  After he received his citation, he explained to his children right in front of the officer that daddy had violated the law and was being rightfully punished for his actions.  He took advantage of a tremendous opportunity to teach his children to respect law enforcement officers, and the fact that even daddy is not spared from being corrected when he violates the law.  He made such an impact on his children that when they got home, they offered him the money in their piggy bank to help pay the fine and made a “thank you” card for the officer that said "Dear Policeman, thank you for telling us about seat belts."

I’m thrilled that he taught his children such a valuable lesson and did not verbalize his complaints in their hearing like he did with his adult friends.  Now if he will only teach those same truths to his own heart…

Thoughts on Complacency about the Third World

by Bruce Mills

As I write this, I am sitting in a beautiful mountain lodge home in the mountains of north Georgia, looking out over a sun-drenched vista filled with autumn leaves of spectacular colors, with temperatures hovering in the middle 70s. I am living the American dream…a wonderful wife and family, a nice job which provides me with an adequate income to own my own home, modern appliances and technological devices that make life much easier (i.e., dishwasher, clothes washer & dryer, central heat and air, computers, smartphones, etc.), as well as the opportunity to periodically take vacations in lovely locations.  I can afford to visit the doctor and dentist for regular checkups, to buy the medications I need to maintain my health.  I can get in my nice car and drive wherever I need to go, whenever I want to.  I attend a church, which even though the building is aging, still has nice pews, carpeting, as well as a modern sound system with video screens, and air conditioning.

Meanwhile in Honduras, the second poorest country in Central America, there is a young pastor who spends each day working the ground on his small plot of land, subsistence farming, hoping the weather will be favorable so he can raise enough beans and corn to help feed his family as well as sell some at the local open air market.  He plows and hoes his crops all day, every day, struggling to provide enough for his family to survive.  His pregnant wife carries the little bit of clothing their family owns down to the river to wash and scrub it in the water and then dries it in the sun.  She also walks a half mile each way to the nearest well to fill her water jug in order to have enough water to last for the day, then carries it all the way back home.  She will repeat this every day.  She then works to prepare the evening meal for the family, one of only two they will have that day.  The family is fortunate at the present time; there are times when they only have one meal per day.  This woman has had no pre-natal care for her unborn child and their other two living children have never had a shot to immunize them against any of the many childhood diseases which can quickly claim a life in a nation with poor medical care.  In fact, last year their two-year old daughter died after contracting measles.

Every night, after finishing his work in his field and eating a small bowl of rice and beans for dinner, this young pastor spends time reading a tattered paperback copy of the Bible which he received from some missionaries who used to minister in the area, through whom he first heard the gospel of Jesus Christ when he was just a young teenager.  It is the only book he owns.  He studies it intently, trying to learn all he can about the Christian faith, but he is limited because he has no formal instruction and no other theological commentaries or reference books to help him understand the flow of Scripture or how the gospels and the epistles fit together.  Each Sunday, this man stands before a small congregation in a hot, humid building, where only a few of the others own a Bible, and attempts to teach the people there what he has found in God’s Word that week.

Who is this young pastor?  Well, I admit that he is fictitious man of my own imagination, but there are many pastors around the Honduran countryside just like him.  Meanwhile, I sit here in my comfortable surroundings, thinking about my extensive theological library back at my home in Florida, and the opportunity I had to attend seminary to receive advanced theological training, and the joy I experience from studying the Scriptures and my books each week before standing to teach my Sunday School class of about 45 people in a comfortable, air-conditioned building.  Those Honduran pastors have never experienced any of those things, and cannot imagine ever having such opportunities.  But they continue faithfully teaching their little flocks of believers, even though they hardly know more about the Bible than do those who attend their churches. 

Why am I thinking about these matters?  Because I am reading David Platt’s excellent book, Radical, which challenges my thinking about such issues, and I am embarrassed by my complacency toward men such as this fictitious young Honduran pastor.  Christ commanded us to go to all the nations and make disciples.  That includes building up the men who will shepherd the flock there in those nations.  I went to El Salvador in 2002 to teach at a church leadership conference, but I have not done such since then.  I am ashamed of my indifference toward these men who live their lives with the goal of shepherding God’s flock, but do not have the training and resources to do so effectively.

But I also know that I can do something about this.  As one of the pastors of my church, I will have the opportunity to go to Honduras within the next year or so to minister to pastors and other church leaders in that impoverished nation.  The pastors of our church have agreed to minister in conjunction with S.O.S. Ministries to some of the evangelical church leaders in Honduras in order to help them better understand and teach the Scriptures.  We will also provide them with Spanish language resources for study.  Some of our pastors went there in July, and others are scheduled to go in December.  I’m not certain when I will be scheduled to go, but I will eventually go, Lord willing.

My question for those reading this is: Are you as concerned about making disciples and building them up as Jesus commands us to be?  We often use excuses about not feeling called to go to those in other nations, which is, in reality, nothing more than a cover-up for our unwillingness to get out of our satisfied, comfortable, American dream lifestyle and go to the third world and reach both those who need to both hear the saving gospel of Jesus Christ and those who need to be built up in the faith.  I’m guilty of thinking that way…what about you?  The Great Commission is not a call to complacency and the satisfied life; it is a call to engage the enemy on the battlefield in the war for the souls of men.  May we repent of our sinful thinking and get busy in the work of reaching the world!

An Outstanding Response to Pat Robertson

Posted by Bruce Mills

This past week, Pat Robertson made headlines when he stated that Alzheimer’s disease is the equivalent of death and an individual who is married to an Alzheimer’s victim is justified in divorcing their spouse under such circumstances.  I thought about writing a post in response to his horrific declaration, but I believe Dr. Russell Moore, Dean of the School of Theology and Senior Vice-President for Academic Administration at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, has answered Robertson far better than I ever could.  So I have copied his blog post on this issue for your edification.  If you wish to read more of Dr. Moore’s blog posts, you will find them at his blog, Moore to the Point, at www.russellmoore.com.

Christ, the Church, and Pat Robertson

By Russell D. Moore

This week on his television show Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson said a man would be morally justified to divorce his wife with Alzheimer’s disease in order to marry another woman. The dementia-riddled wife is, Robertson said, “not there” anymore. This is more than an embarrassment. This is more than cruelty. This is a repudiation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Few Christians take Robertson all that seriously anymore. Most roll their eyes, and shake their heads when he makes another outlandish comment (for instance, defending China’s brutal one-child abortion policy to identifying God’s judgment on specific actions in the September 11 attacks, Hurricane Katrina, or the Haiti earthquake). This is serious, though, because it points to an issue that is much bigger than Robertson.

Marriage, the Scripture tells us, is an icon of something deeper, more ancient, more mysterious. The marriage union is a sign, the Apostle Paul announces, of the mystery of Christ and his church (Eph. 5). The husband, then, is to love his wife “as Christ loved the church” (Eph. 5:25). This love is defined not as the hormonal surge of romance but as a self-sacrificial crucifixion of self. The husband pictures Christ when he loves his wife by giving himself up for her.

At the arrest of Christ, his Bride, the church, forgot who she was, and denied who he was. He didn’t divorce her. He didn’t leave.

The Bride of Christ fled his side, and went back to their old ways of life. When Jesus came to them after the resurrection, the church was about the very thing they were doing when Jesus found them in the first place: out on the boats with their nets. Jesus didn’t leave. He stood by his words, stood by his Bride, even to the Place of the Skull, and beyond.

A woman or a man with Alzheimer’s can’t do anything for you. There’s no romance, no sex, no partnership, not even companionship. That’s just the point. Because marriage is a Christ/church icon, a man loves his wife as his own flesh. He cannot sever her off from him simply because she isn’t “useful” anymore.

Pat Robertson’s cruel marriage statement is no anomaly. He and his cohorts have given us for years a prosperity gospel with more in common with an Asherah pole than a cross. They have given us a politicized Christianity that uses churches to “mobilize” voters rather than to stand prophetically outside the power structures as a witness for the gospel.

But Jesus didn’t die for a Christian Coalition; he died for a church. And the church, across the ages, isn’t significant because of her size or influence. She is weak, helpless, and spattered in blood. He is faithful to us anyway.

If our churches are to survive, we must repudiate this Canaanite mammonocracy that so often speaks for us. But, beyond that, we must train up a new generation to see the gospel embedded in fidelity, a fidelity that is cruciform.

It’s easy to teach couples to put the “spark” back in their marriages, to put the “sizzle” back in their sex lives. You can still worship the self and want all that. But that’s not what love is. Love is fidelity with a cross on your back. Love is drowning in your own blood. Love is screaming, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.”

Sadly, many of our neighbors assume that when they hear the parade of cartoon characters we allow to speak for us, that they are hearing the gospel. They assume that when they see the giggling evangelist on the television screen, that they see Jesus. They assume that when they see the stadium political rallies to “take back America for Christ,” that they see Jesus. But Jesus isn’t there.

Jesus tells us he is present in the weak, the vulnerable, the useless. He is there in the least of these (Matt. 25:31-46). Somewhere out there right now, a man is wiping the drool from an 85 year-old woman who flinches because she think he’s a stranger. No television cameras are around. No politicians are seeking a meeting with them.

But the gospel is there. Jesus is there.

Guaranteeing a Debt: A Biblical View on Surety

by Bruce Mills

Recently, a man in our church who ministers to college students wrote the following question to the elders: “I was teaching my guys accountability group out of Proverbs 6:1-5. I have always taken this passage to mean that Solomon is against us becoming a surety for another person’s debt. Because I deal with college students, the question came up about parents cosigning for student loans or for their first apartment. I would appreciate input into this matter. Basically, is the teaching of Proverbs and thus the Bible that we should not become a surety for anyone else's debt regardless of our relationship to them and does this include cosigning on loans?”

Two elders shared their perspective on this matter, and because there may be others who wonder about what the Bible says about this situation, I decided to post the two responses here on the blog.  The first response is from Curt Sharbaugh, who serves on our staff as one of our Associate Pastors.  Curt received his undergraduate degree from the Moody Bible Institute and his graduate degree from Wheaton College.  He writes:

Here’s my two cents on this. I would say that there’s a danger in reading Proverbs as a list of prohibitions and commands. There’s a difference in terms of genre between proverbs and law. When a proverb says, “don’t” it doesn’t necessarily mean “never.” Take for example the interpretive guide to the book found in Proverbs 26:4 and 5: “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes” (ESV). If the Proverbs were meant as commands in every case, we’d be in big trouble at this point. The writer has purposefully included these two opposing and yet harmonious proverbs next to each other to illustrate the fact that different situations may call for different courses of action. It’s interesting that a few verses later, it says, “Like a lame man's legs, which hang useless, is a proverb in the mouth of fools… Like a thorn that goes up into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of fools.” (Proverbs 26:7, 9 ESV). The writer is warning against the misuse of proverbs, while in that same context giving us a clue as to how they work. They’re wise sayings that guide us toward wise living. In some cases, they tell us foundational truths about the wisdom of God, such as “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Sometimes, they do rephrase commands from the Mosaic Law in the form of a proverb (e.g. Deut. 19:14 and Prov. 22:28), but at other times, they simply tell us what is “generally speaking” the best course of action to take or what is “generally” true.

As far as I can tell, Proverbs 6:1-5 is of the latter, and is giving us a warning of the danger of becoming legally liable for someone else’s debt. It does not mean that one can never do this. Clearly this is a concern of Proverbs as similar ideas are mentioned throughout. Sometimes the emphasis is on the foolishness of doing this with a “stranger”, that is, a foreigner (20:16). Sometimes it is more generally stated to include “neighbors,” that is, fellow Israelites (17:18). Here in Proverbs 6 it is stated comprehensively and includes anyone (notice the merism “neighbor” and “stranger”, i.e. everyone). I would say it’s teaching us that, generally speaking, it’s not wise to become liable for someone else’s debt. It could wreck you financially. But I would not say this proverb is saying that it is sinful to do so. What I think helps confirm this is that it does not appear to be a restatement of a Mosaic prohibition. Of course, even if it was, we may still need to evaluate it’s setting within the Old Covenant.

Proverbs 6:1-5 would seem to be a general warning against taking on liability for someone else’s debt, but not without exception. Were we to go back to the setting of ancient Israel and ask about whether we could apply this to a father and his son, I think we’d hear an exception, but proverbs do not generally state exceptions. They’re just pithy statements of wisdom. Plus a son or daughter would not generally be referred to as a “neighbor” much less a “stranger,” so it’s even more likely they would not have been included in this general principle. Proverbs 6:1-5 is not a treatise on right and wrong business practices; it’s a short poetic discourse on the dangers of financial irresponsibility. So I would not conclude that cosigning a child’s loan, or one for someone who was like family for that matter, would be wrong. There may be other situations where this would not be wrong. In general, however, it’s wise to stay away from debt, and it’s unwise to take on others’ debt.

I was the other elder who shared his thoughts on this matter, and while my response is not as technical or analytical as Curt’s, here is what I had to say:

I would concur with Curt's explanation that the Proverbs are not designed as absolutes. The book of Proverbs is a guidebook for godly conduct, consisting of practical principles for righteous living. In his commentary on the Proverbs, Jay Adams states, "...the proverbs warn, instruct, expose folly, point the way to wisdom, tell you what to expect in life (describing what it is like), show you how to live life in ways that please God and give you an idea of how things tend to work out without always being absolute about it."

I agree with Curt's analysis and interpretation of Prov. 6:1-5, so I will not repeat what he has said. However, let me add a couple of other observations. In studying the practices of lending that were permitted and not permitted under the Law, it is clear that there was to be no interest charged to a poor person. But it was permissible to charge interest to others. However, usury (the charging of exorbitant interest rates) was prohibited. In Nehemiah 5, there is discussion of the people mortgaging their houses, fields, vineyards, etc. in order to buy food. And in verses 10-11, Nehemiah orders the rulers to stop charging usury to the people which was apparently 1% per month (12% per annum). Just like today, if someone had a mortgage that they were paying 12% APR on, we would all agree that it was exorbitantly high, particularly when mortgage rates are around 4% right now.

My point is that many commentators believe Prov. 6:1-5 is warning against cosigning for someone on a loan on which the interest rate is so high as to be usury and you find yourself trapped by the agreement. Notice the conditional aspect in verse 2: "if you have been snared." But if a parent is financially capable of assisting their child in obtaining a student loan or an auto loan or an apartment lease agreement by cosigning for them, and the interest rate is low and affordable, then I do not believe Proverbs is absolutely prohibiting them from doing so. However, there is still the warning that something might go wrong and the parents would become responsible to pay back that loan, and then they may become trapped by their agreement to pay. In such cases, Proverbs advises them to plead with the creditor to release them from the agreement or modify it so as to be affordable.

Another interpretation of this passage is that it is warning against making rash agreements to become surety for another which may trap the individual in something they haven't really thought through. Since the Proverbs are written to young sons as a means of instruction, this would warn young men of the danger of making rash agreements that they have not thought through or about which they have not received any wise counsel. Charles Bridges, one of the most famous commentators on the Proverbs, points out that there are some examples of becoming surety for another that were apparently okay (Reuben and Judah for Benjamin in Gen. 42:37, 43:9, 44:32-33; Paul for Onesimus in Philemon 18-19). So while we think of surety as applying to financial arrangements, the Scriptures do not carry that limited meaning or understanding. The concept of surety is that of a guarantee to be liable for someone else, whether for his debts, damages, or default. To bring it up to today, a parent who carries their child on their auto insurance policy has agreed to become the surety for that child's actions while driving the family vehicle. The principle of Proverbs would apply in that situation just like they do in your example of co-signing a loan. So if you are going to consistently apply your understanding that Proverbs is absolutely prohibiting surety for another (including your children), then a parent would be prohibited from including the child on their auto insurance policy (even though the insurance company requires such while the child is still living at home), merely because to do so is to be surety for that child. I'm not certain you would want to take the principle that far.

So, as Curt stated, the principle of Proverbs is to avoid debt if possible. If a child or close friend needs the money and it is within the individual's ability, they should give them the money or they can loan the money to them at no interest. But if they don't have the money that is needed, and the child has not yet reached the stage in life where they have the ability to get the loan (or auto insurance) themselves, the principle from Proverbs is BE EXTREMELY CAUTIOUS ABOUT CO-SIGNING FOR ANYONE OR BECOMING SURETY IN ANY WAY FOR THEM, BECAUSE YOU MIGHT GET TRAPPED. But because the Proverbs are not absolute edicts, I do not believe you can take it to mean that co-signing or becoming surety in some other way is absolutely prohibited. It may not be wise (particularly if it is an apartment lease agreement), but it is not prohibited.

Our Current Economic Situation

by Bruce Mills

I have a good friend, Grant Wolf, who for many years served as the Executive Director of the Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers. Grant spent many years in the insurance industry and has been involved in financial counseling for both believers and unbelievers who are struggling with dire financial straits.  He sent me a copy of an email he sent out to folks on his email distribution list.  The principles are just what Christians need to hear during these difficult economic times, so I am posting it here for your edification.

Our Current Economic Situation

by Grant Wolf

Perhaps you are one of millions of Americans who find yourself severely affected by the current economic crisis. Our nation is in serious trouble, and it will take serious remedial action to get us back on track.

Many now find they owe more on their homes than the current selling price, and that their investments – 401K or otherwise – have taken sharp hits.

As Christians, how do we react?

First, we must keep strong our faith in God and his overarching protection. Isaiah 31:1-3 says: What sorrow awaits those who look to Egypt (government, men) for help, trusting their horses, chariots, and charioteers and depending on the strength of human armies instead of looking to the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. In his wisdom, the Lord will send great disaster; he will not change his mind. He will rise against the wicked and against their helpers.

Second, we need to make certain we are serving God and not money. (Matthew 6:24 - You cannot serve both God and money.)

Third, we are not to worry about the morrow. (Matthew 6:34 – Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for today are its own troubles.

Fourth, we need to count our blessings. (Matthew 6:30-32 – Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear? For after all these things the Gentiles (unbelievers) seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.)

Finally, God is able to make up for our financial loss. In 2 Chronicles 25:6-9, King Amaziah of Judah “paid about 7,500 pounds of silver to Israel to hire 100,000 experienced fighting men in order to prop up his own army. But a man of God came to him and said, ‘Your Majesty, do not hire troops from Israel, for the Lord is not with Israel.’ Amaziah asked the man of God, ‘But what about all that silver I paid to hire the army of Israel?’ The man of God replied, ‘The Lord is able to give you much more than this!’”

I read a “letter to the editor” the other day from a woman who said their house was now worth less than what they owed. However, she said it didn’t make any difference. They liked their home, the mortgage was in line with their ability to pay, and the sale or mortgage values made no difference. They were “just figures on paper.”

For many, the value of homes, stocks, bonds or other assets are “just figures on paper” and do not affect day-to-day living. So we just go forward rejoicing, as a country gospel song goes, “Looking forward to the City coming down, not the cities going up!”

Selah!

A Ministry that Honors Jesus Christ

by Bruce Mills

I taught on John 3:22-36 in my class today, and as I studied this passage in preparation to teach it, I noted an important principle to which all ministers of the Gospel today should pass close attention. It has to do with how one should deal with the envy and jealousy that can so easily arise in a minister’s heart over the success of someone else’s ministry, and what the focus of every minister’s heart should be in order to honor the Lord in his ministry.

The passage is dealing with the transition from John the Baptist’s ministry to Jesus’ ministry.  It is a very important overlap. John the Baptist was initially the guy who was drawing the big crowds, but Jesus began His ministry and little by little, the people start moving over to Jesus. It took a period of about six months, but over that time, John’s crowds thinned out, and Jesus’ crowds grew.  But that was a great blessing to John, because that was the whole point of his ministry; to get them over there to where Jesus was.

John is a fabulous example of humble faithfulness for us. He wasn’t fretting over how things were going, saying, “Oh, my ministry is crumbling. The crowds are getting smaller. I need to figure out some method of enticing them back. Maybe we ought to give away an iPhone to whoever brings the most people or put a Starbucks in the lobby.” No, he wasn’t into gimmicks. He was a man of humble faithfulness.

So many pastors measure the success of their ministry on how many bodies they have coming each week. And there is a terrible tendency in the American church culture to assume that a big crowd means you must be doing something right. But you see, the success of a ministry is not measured by the number of people who it attracts, but rather the success of a ministry is measured by the spiritual impact in the lives of those who are there.

And so by that standard John’s ministry was totally successful because his crowds were diminishing and going to Jesus, and that’s exactly what he wanted them to do. He wasn’t trying to get a crowd, he was trying to get rid of a crowd. And John is a tremendous example of humility. There he was, simply ministering and pointing people to Christ, and the people were leaving and he was just carrying on.

In John 3:27, when John said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven,” what he was saying was, “If I’ve been successful, it was because God made me successful. If my ministry is over, then God is the One who is turning it off. If people are leaving my ministry and going to Jesus, it’s because God is sending them there. I don’t need to stand back and be jealous of what God is doing. No one ever received anything except that which God gave to him. So you can’t make me jealous of that.” What incredible character this man had!

This principle applies to every one of us. God’s sovereign authority grants the extent of one’s ministry. That’s the way it is. Paul put it this way in 1 Cor. 4:7--“For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” Everything you have is God’s gift to you. In 1 Cor. 15:10 Paul says, “…by the grace of God I am what I am…” It’s all a gift. If you have a successful ministry, it’s the grace of God. Whether it is teaching a class of adults or a class of second graders, or preaching to a church filled with hundreds or thousands, it’s all of the grace of God. God is the One who sovereignly determines the size and the success of a ministry.

Notice how John illustrates this in John 3:28. He says, “You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’”  In other words, “Listen, I’ve been telling you all along that I am not the Christ and that you need to go see Jesus. He’s the Lamb of God. So why are you trying to stir up jealousy in my heart? I’ve been telling you all along He’s the one.”

Do you know how to tell the character of any great minister? Not by how many people follow the minister, but how many people follow Jesus Christ because of his ministry. Any time you run into a ministry where people are constantly attached to the minister, be careful of that ministry, because something is wrong. Any God-blessed, God-given ministry makes disciples of Jesus Christ, not disciples of some man. And John’s ministry was a joyous ministry because he had sent a whole nation to Jesus Christ. Once they got to Him, they had a lot of problems, but John had done his job.

John was a wonderful example for all true ministers of God that they should not seek after personal fame and should not worry about how big the crowd is that is following them. Instead they should just keep pointing the people to Jesus Christ, because He is what it is all about. Pastors and leaders who fret over the size of their church and what they can do to attract and keep a crowd have missed the point that their mission is only to faithfully teach the Word and point people to Jesus Christ. If they do that, God will bless that ministry.

I don’t mean that a pastor or teacher shouldn’t strive to improve and to be an excellent expositor and teacher of the Word, because he should. And I’m not saying that church leaders shouldn’t give consideration to how to improve the various ministries in their church so that they become known for their excellence. But when a minister chooses business marketing and corporate growth techniques to build his church instead of faithfully following the Word of God and teaching the sheep God has given him responsibility to shepherd, he has turned the church into a business rather than a ministry. More pastors need to be like John the Baptist and see themselves only as caretakers who introduce people to Jesus Christ and help them grow deeper in their understanding of Him and His Word, and stop worrying about how big the crowd is that shows up on Sunday. God will take care of those things if the church leaders are godly men who are obedient to the Word.

God’s Marvelous Provision

by Bruce Mills

Several months ago, my son and daughter-in-law decided that they would start the long and involved process of adopting a child. This was a decision they made after suffering the sorrow of multiple miscarriages. This was a particularly difficult experience for my daughter-in-law, as many of her friends were experiencing the joy of having children while she was unable to do so. But the Lord has used it as a means of spiritual growth for them as they have learned more about the sovereignty of God and His love for them than they ever would have otherwise.

But they decided to pursue adoption as a means of adding a child to their family. They began the process of saving and fundraising to pay for this extremely expensive process. At the present time, the cost to adopt a child is between $18,000 and $20,000, all of which must be paid before the child is taken home by the adoptive parents.  So it is a monumental task to gather that kind of money in a relatively short period of time.

After saving some of their own money and raising additional money through a large garage sale and t-shirt sales, they were doing well in gathering funds, but were nowhere near what they required. Suddenly and unexpectedly, their adoption coordinator called them and asked them if they were interested in pursuing the placement of a little girl due to be born on August 16th. There were some good reasons to pursue this particular child, particularly the fact that the mother had no addiction issues which almost always cause lifelong problems for the child. They were extremely surprised but decided that they would attempt to see if they could raise the additional funds they needed in the one month they had before the baby would come.  Plus they had to get an entire nursery ready, including painting and obtaining all the furniture and other supplies normally associated with caring for a baby.

After checking how much money they had accrued, they determined that they were $7,000 short. Using a new means of fundraising recommended to them by friends who have adopted, they began a Facebook-a-thon, seeking donations from friends and family to help bring this little girl home to a loving family.  That is when the amazing love of God’s people began to be demonstrated at a level that I must admit I didn’t expect. In less than two weeks, God used His people to generously give all $7,000 of the funds they needed! My faith was certainly far too small, as I never expected them to raise more than a couple of thousand dollars at the most. But God marvelously worked in the hearts of people to give far more abundantly than I could ever ask or think (Eph. 3:20). All the glory goes to God alone, who has used His children to provide the opportunity for a sweet little girl who needs a family that will love her with the love of Christ to be able to bring her home.

Now, all we have to do is wait for this young birth mother to give birth, and pray that the baby is healthy and that the mother does not change her mind at the last minute. Please pray with us to that end.

Widows, Orphans, & Aliens

by Bruce Mills

Scripture repeatedly discusses three groups of people for whom God has a special love and concern. They are widows, orphans, and aliens.  There are ten verses in the Bible in which God emphasizes His love for all three groups (Deut. 10:18; 14:29; 24:17, 19, 20, 21; 26:13; 27:19; Jer. 7:6; Mal. 3:5).  There are many more verses which express God’s concern for only one or two of those groups. It is clear that those who find themselves in one of these categories are very special to our Lord.  He demands that they be given justice, that they are provided with the food and other needs which they require, and no one must ever cheat any such individual out of any money that belongs to them.

The question which arises is, what are some of the implications of these divine commands for us as we interact with those who are widows, orphans, or aliens?

In regard to widows, it means that we are to insure that the widows in our churches receive special attention in terms of financial support if necessary, assistance with maintenance and upkeep of their homes, transportation to medical appointments and grocery shopping if needed, and visits to their homes to encourage them that we care for them.  This may seem like a “no brainer,” but I personally know of a church in which it took a friend of mine about a year to convince the church leadership that a ministry that provides such assistance for the widows in the church was a good and godly thing to do.  He was told over and over that such a ministry was unnecessary.  It was as though they were oblivious to the biblical instruction regarding the believer’s responsibilities to widows.  It was only after he managed to get approval to give such a ministry a “test run” that the church’s leaders saw the value of reaching out to the widows in that church.

In regard to orphans, it means that we encourage Christians to adopt those orphaned children, and attempt to provide means by which potential adoptive parents can raise the funds needed to pay for an adoption.  It means that we hold up adoption to our congregation as an important way to advance God’s kingdom by adopting and raising those children in homes in which honoring and glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ is the consuming passion of life.  Providing adoption seminars to help the couples in our churches to understand how precious orphans are to the heart of God and providing assistance with the paperwork and home study are effective methods of encouraging believers to consider adoption.

In regard to aliens, it means that we evangelize and provide for the needs of aliens who live in our communities.  Whatever one’s thoughts on illegal immigration, the fact is that God calls believers to treat those aliens living around us with compassion and generosity.  That means that we do not take advantage of them in any financial or business transaction, such as paying a lower wage than we would pay someone else to do the same job, simply because we believe we can get away from it because the alien will not complain to anyone.  It means that churches should consider sponsoring ESL classes to assist aliens in learning the English language, which provides an opportunity to evangelize them.  It means that churches consider establishing live translation of services into the language of the primary people group living in the area, thereby providing a means by which those aliens can hear the Word of God and be evangelized.

There are certainly more ways by which believers can provide practical assistance to widows, orphans, and aliens.  These are just a few ideas. God has made it very clear that all three groups are very special to Him and thus, they should be very special to us. We need to be obedient to Scripture and care for them in a way which brings glory to God and tangibly demonstrates His love for them.

Eternally Secure

by Bruce Mills

I had the tremendous privilege of preaching this morning on the eternal security of the believer. My text was Romans 8:29-30. It is a passage filled with deep, rich truths regarding the doctrine of predestination and election. The debate over the security of the believer’s salvation has been debated throughout the history of the church. It is an issue which has split the whole of Christendom into two camps. One group believes that salvation is eternal and no true believer can lose his salvation, but the other side believes that salvation is not necessarily eternal, but can be forfeited by sin.

The truth is that this is an unnecessary debate because the Word of God is so abundantly clear on the matter of the believer’s security.  In fact, Romans 8:28-30 presents the clearest and most powerful statement of security in all of Scripture. These verses guarantee without deviation, variation, or exception that all those who are genuinely saved will enter into final glory.

The purpose of God in our salvation, according to Romans 8:29-30 is to conform us to the image of His Son. God didn’t predestine His elect only to the beginning of our salvation but also to the end of it which is to be conformed to the image of His Son.  When we’re finally in glory, we’ll be like Jesus Christ and so our predestination is to our eternal glory when we are completely conformed to His image.  So God’s intent is to bring us all the way to glory.  Believers aren’t saved just to help us temporarily in this life if we can hang on to it by our own power.  We were saved in order that we might be finally brought into the surpassing riches and glory of His grace in the ages to come.  And since it isn’t a matter of works to get saved, it’s not a matter of works to stay saved.  It was grace that saved us, it is grace that keeps us, and it will be grace that brings us to glory.

I don’t mean to shock you too badly, but contrary to what most modern evangelism methods seem to teach, the purpose of salvation is not primarily for you.  The purpose of salvation was not primarily to deliver you from hell and take you to heaven.  That’s a wonderful benefit, but it is a secondary benefit.  No, the purpose of your salvation was so that you could be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

What does that mean?  It means that God’s plan in salvation was to make those He saved like His Son.  Forgiveness of sin…that’s a wonderful benefit.  Removal of guilt, the granting of peace and joy and love…all of those are a part of salvation, but the primary goal is to make you like Jesus Christ.  Salvation cannot stop short of that, or it’s not the salvation God planned.  It cannot just stop with calling; that is, that God just calls and then hopes.  It cannot end with justification; that is, He justifies but then He just kind of hopes that those individuals get to glory. 

No, the plan and purpose of God, the kind intention of His will, is that we will be “conformed to the image of His Son,” and that includes the glory that His Son now has. We have been saved in hope, and the hope in which we’ve been saved is that someday we’ll be like Christ.

And the passage in Romans 8:29-30 tells us that those whom God predetermined and foreordained to love eternally, He marked out (that is, predestined) to go all the way to glory and be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.  And in time, He has been effectually calling those who God has predestined to salvation.  And all those whom He has ordained, hear that call and believe.

And none of them are going to fall through the cracks between their calling and their eternal glory.  The doctrine that you can lose your salvation is a frightening aberration of Scripture.  God came, and He awakened those He has chosen from the dead, shone light into their darkness, and convicted them of sin and righteousness and judgment. They felt the weight of their sin and the pain of isolation and alienation from God.  And that awakening came upon hearing and understanding the gospel. 

They might hear it from a pastor, a teacher, a book, from the pages of Scripture, from the witness of a friend or family member, but the response of the heart with a conviction of sin, the desire for righteousness, a comprehension of the need for forgiveness, and an understanding of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, only comes about by the call of God. 

As I studied these things in preparation for teaching, I thought about those who believe they can lose their salvation because of some sin in their life.  My own grandmother went to her grave believing that all it took was to die with some unforgiven sin on her account and she would be condemned to an eternity in hell.  As I thought about such people, I was struck by how paralyzing and frightening it must be to live with such a belief.  To think that all it takes is one sin committed just prior to a fatal accident or heart attack and one would lose their salvation and be condemned to hell—how incredibly frightening that must be! How can one ever experience the joy of their salvation when they truly believe they can lose their salvation at any moment?

But I also realized that there is another consequence of believing that one can lose his or her salvation because of sin, and that is that in order to maintain any kind of sense of sanity and normalcy in one's life, he must reduce sin to a level in which it is far less of an offense against God than it actually is. After all, if those who believe that sin will cause them to lose their salvation truly understood the seriousness of sin as God portrays it in Scripture, they would know that it includes not only outward actions, but also inward motivations and attitudes. That was Jesus’ whole point throughout the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). He repeatedly stated that it wasn’t just an outward, external sin that offends God, but it was the internal attitude of the heart.  But those who think sin can cause them to lose their salvation don't usually think so-called "minor" sins such as attitudes and motives can cause them to lose their salvation. They think only so-called "big" sins result in such a loss. Their view is strikingly similar to that of the Pharisees whom Jesus was confronting. But that was not our Lord's viewpoint on sin. He saw all sin, including internal attitudes and motives, as offending a holy God, thus requiring His grace in order to be forgiven. Because all of us are continuously battling against sin in our hearts and minds, we can only be assured of going to heaven when we die because God’s grace is being continuously poured out, guaranteeing the security of our salvation.

Another issue with believing that one can lose his or her salvation is that it leaves man in charge of his eternal salvation and makes God a lesser god; a diminished deity who sits in heaven wringing his hands, hoping that the people He created will exercise their will to choose Christ, incapable of guaranteeing their salvation apart from their own sovereign choice over the matter. My friends, that is not the God of the Bible!

So, God determined in eternity past to bring us to glory.  And in that process, no one gets lost. It’s not our choice of God that matters, but rather God’s choice of us. It’s not our effectual faith, but His effectual call. It’s not our ability to persevere, but the fact that He has determined beforehand to persevere with us to the very end. And the only response we should have is continual praise to our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, because of His glorious grace.

The Consequences of Camping

by Bruce Mills

Harold Camping demonstrated without any doubt (in case anyone still happens to think he might have some validity) that he is a false prophet.  Deuteronomy 18:22 is very clear about how to detect a false prophet.  It says, “When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”  There is no doubt that Camping claimed to speak for the Lord, predicted the rapture (which didn’t happen as he predicted), and thus, no one should pay any attention to him.  His brazen claim to predict the date of the rapture is also in direct conflict with Jesus’ statement regarding the apocalypse in Matthew 24:36 where He said, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.”  If even Jesus in His incarnation didn’t know the timing of the Lord’s return, why would Harold Camping think he was capable of determining the day and time of that event?

And now that he has been proven wrong, he has done exactly as I expected—he has come up with another bizarre explanation that May 21st was an “invisible judgment day” and that the physical judgment day for the world will be October 21st. The question is, what will he say if judgment day does not occur on October 21st as he has predicted? Let me predict now that if such is the case, he will once again come up with some cockeyed explanation and a new date for the Lord’s return.  And I will also predict that there will still be a few idiots out there who will believe him.

But I think the issue that bothers me the most about this whole disheartening incident is the unabated ridicule that has been directed toward anyone who believes that Christ will one day return physically and rapture His church, followed by a period of tribulation of a like which the world has never seen.  Camping’s fraudulent date-setting has opened the gates for talk-show hosts, news anchors, journalists, and even our next door neighbors to heap scorn and disdain on anyone who would proclaim the truth of Scripture regarding Christ’s return. As I listened to a radio talk show host scoffing and trash-talking anyone who would believe Camping, he sounded exactly like those who the apostle Peter described in 2 Peter 3:3-4 where he said, “Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.’”  Had Camping taught the truth of the Scriptures rather than violating Scripture by engaging in setting dates, the scoffers would still be there, but not the extreme intensity that we now see.

The only positive thing which Camping’s actions have accomplished is that his true colors have now been revealed to a much greater percentage of true Christians. I cannot count how many times through the years I have been approached by believers with questions about Camping’s teaching, and I had to explain to them why he is a false teacher. They often replied, “But he sounds so convincing.” Many of those people left, saying they appreciated my explanation, but I could tell they had doubts about what I told them and were still wondering if there was a possibility that Camping was a legitimate Bible teacher.  But now Camping himself has removed any doubts in the minds of most Christians about who and what he is. Now if we can just get back to watching for our Lord’s imminent return as we should—by simply believing and proclaiming, “Perhaps today!”

A Great New Book

by Bruce Mills

In connection with my prior post, I wanted to follow up with information regarding Pastor Steve Kreloff’s newest book, Timeless Truths from a Faithful Shepherd.  This book is an anthology of some of his landmark sermons selected from his thirty years of ministry as the pastor of Lakeside Community Chapel.  He truly is one of the outstanding verse-by-verse Bible teachers of our time. Pastor Steve Kreloff's careful exposition opens up the Scriptures with clarity and accuracy. He is as skilled and comfortable in Moses' Law and the book of Esther as he is in the Beatitudes. Whether you are familiar with a given text or not, you will gain fresh insights from these messages. The book is available on Amazon.com for only $12.47, or if you are around Lakeside, it is available at our book table for only $10.00.  Buy yours today and start reading!  Truly it will encourage your heart and challenge your thinking about how to apply these truths to your daily walk.

30 Years of Faithful Ministry

by Bruce Mills

Tomorrow, May 1st, Lakeside Community Chapel in Clearwater, Florida will celebrate the 30th anniversary of its Pastor-Teacher, Steve Kreloff.  Steve has actually been on staff at the church since 1976, but became the pastor in May 1981.  In a day when the average tenure of a pastor in the United States is six years, that is simply astounding.  The emphasis of his ministry has always been, and continues to be, the verse-by-verse teaching of the Word of God.

Steve is a Jewish Christian who, while a student at the University of South Florida, received Jesus as his Messiah, Lord and Savior. He is a graduate of Moody Bible Institute and Tampa Bay Theological Seminary (now known as Dallas Theological Seminary’s Tampa Bay Extension).  He is the Bible teacher on the Verse-by-Verse Ministries radio broadcast, heard daily in the Tampa Bay area on Salem Communications radio station WTBN.

Lakeside will celebrate by having Steve’s best friend since the days they attended Moody Bible Institute together—Phil Johnson—speak in both morning services and briefly in the evening service.  Phil is the executive director of Grace to You (the media arm of Dr. John MacArthur’s ministry) and the founder of Pyromaniacs, one of the most widely read blogs in the Christian blogosphere.  There will also be other speakers and special presentations in the evening service, followed by a reception.

I have had the privilege of being Steve’s friend since my wife and I began attending Lakeside shortly after we were married in 1976.  He was our Sunday School teacher at the time, and the Minister of Evangelism at the church.  We are the same age; our birthdays are less than a month apart, but he is older!  He took me under his wing and we began a year long one-on-one discipleship relationship.  We worked our way through theological, family, and ministry issues.  We were both learning and growing spiritually.  We developed a friendship which has stood the test of time. 

When I became an elder at Lakeside, it was Steve who recommended me to the other elders as being qualified for the position.  It was Steve who stood by me when I went through a particular difficulty in ministry that shook me to the core.  We suffered together through difficult church budgets and church discipline issues, saw other church leaders come and go, but Steve has continued to serve faithfully and diligently.  His character is impeccable and his heart to teach God’s Word so that people grow and change to be more like Christ has never wavered.  Our children grew up together, our wives served in various church ministries together, and we grew old together.

As I said earlier, Steve has always made the verse-by-verse exposition of the Scriptures a priority of his ministry.  To do that effectively, his sermons are typically 50-55 minutes in length.  Each sermon is a model of how to open up a passage so that the listener goes away with a thorough understanding of what the Bible writer intended when he originally wrote the passage.  It’s hard to be bored or concerned with the length of time he is speaking when you are truly listening, because he opens up the Word in a way that holds your attention and deepens your understanding of the Scriptures.  Because of his skill in teaching God’s Word, he has taught courses on expository preaching to other pastors all over the world.  Only eternity will reveal how many people have benefited from Steve selflessly teaching other men how to do what he does with the text of God’s Word.

Steve is a model of what a pastor should be for his congregation.  His greatest desire is to please His Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and to minister to his flock in the same way that Jesus would.  It has been my privilege to serve with him since 1983 as one of the elders at Lakeside.  I pray that the Lord will give us many more years together.

The Glory of the Incarnate Word

by Bruce Mills

“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).  Jesus Christ displayed His glory to the fullest degree in His death, burial, and resurrection. By that act, He reconciled lost sinners to Himself, turning them from slaves of sin into His children.  Praise His glorious name this Easter!

A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

by Joe Trofemuk

This past Saturday, as I was preparing my lesson for the adult Sunday School class I lead, I took a break to check the mail. As I pulled out the new issue of Time magazine I immediately noticed the cover story dealt with religion. This gripping headline graced the cover "What If There's No Hell?".

The article which spawned the headline dealt with a very popular pastor, Rob Bell, and his new bestselling book "Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived." The underlying premise of the book is predictable. Bell casts doubt on the very notion that there is an eternal punishment for those who reject Jesus Christ.

People far more capable than I am have dissected Rob Bell and the book Love Wins. I refer you to John MacArthur's insightful views on Rob Bell, http://www.gty.org/Blog/B110418 (note the related links on the topic), and Frank Turk's open letter to Bell at Pyromaniacs which contains excellent insight on Love Wins http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2011/03/open-letter-to-rob-bell.html. I have followed this controversy for the last month or so and there are many other similar excellent critiques. Yet staring at the magazine in my hand, I knew the time had come for me to address the issue.

What struck me as I looked at the cover was how this evangelical controversy (Bell has self-identified himself in the past as an evangelical) had attracted the attention of the mainstream media. Here was a purely secular magazine devoting its cover and significant article space to a religious issue. Controversy sells, and such a provocative attack on traditional evangelical belief was apparently too much to pass up, even for Time.

As I pondered things my mind immediately began rethinking my Sunday School message. I had been planning on giving an exhortation on being a doer of the Word from James 1:22. However as I read the cover headline and underlying article, my mind was drawn to the protective shepherding duty set forth by the Apostle Paul to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:28-31. Even though this is the controversy of the day, it is part of a larger epic battle that has been waged by Satan from the beginning. The ultimate issue is not really about Rob Bell or his book. Rather the ultimate issue is the authority of the Bible and the truthfulness of God.

Attacks on God's Word are at their source Satanic. Satan's initial attack against mankind recorded in Genesis 3 was an attack on the accuracy and authority of God's Word. Satan questioned God's Word in Genesis 3:1 and called God a liar in Genesis 3:4. What is being done by Rob Bell and others is nothing new, but it is equally as wicked. All such lies share a common source. Jesus Himself made it clear: Satan is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). The arguments of Bell and others are merely perverted offspring of a truly wicked progenitor.

Furthermore, the attacks we see today on Scripture are not happenstance. They are part of a planned and orchestrated program of deception that God's Word warned about thousands of years ago. The Apostle Peter warned believers to prepare themselves so that they would not be carried away by the errors of unprincipled men who distort Scripture (2 Peter 3:14-18). Paul likewise, in the aforementioned exhortation to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:28-31, warned that from within the church savage wolves would arise seeking to destroy the flock of God by speaking perverse things. These perverse things would lead people to become disciples of the wolves rather than the Great Shepherd.

These planned Satanic attacks, in their myriad forms over the centuries always attack eternal truths. Satan from the beginning lied about the effects of sin on humanity. Rob Bell's claim that perhaps there really is no eternal punishment for sin is remarkably similar to Satan's attack in Genesis 3:4. Paraphrased to line up, one can almost hear the sweet sounding lie, "if you reject Jesus Christ you surely will not be punished." Again, God's Word showed this relationship early on. Jesus in Matthew 7:15 warned of false prophets He called ravenous wolves who would come in sheep's clothing. Interestingly this warning following Jesus' teaching that there was a wide and broad way leading to destruction, and a narrow way that leads to life. I don't believe it is an accidental context for such a warning. Satan wants everyone on the broad way leading to destruction. It is only natural that the ravenous wolves he sends out disguised as sheep would attack the foundational reality of eternal punishment in hell for those who reject Jesus Christ. Masking the true nature of the wide and broad road to hell is perhaps the best way to insure that the road remains crowded and well traveled.

What makes the current controversy involving Rob Bell so dangerous is that he is a very capable and persuasive source. He is a gifted communicator and skilled writer which makes his deceptions sound all the more enticing. Someone like a David Koresh is immediately recognized by most as a lunatic who will never draw more than a few dozen followers. But a gifted and talented person like Rob Bell can reach millions. His church according to multiple sources draws 7,000 plus each week. His books have sold hundreds of thousands, if not millions of copies and are best sellers. Furthermore, even the mainstream media, like Time magazine, pays attention when he speaks. Sadly and more tragically, thousands upon thousands of true believers will give Bell a voice, and may perhaps be lead astray by his persuasive lies. Yet what so many regard as highly intellectual and thoughtful opinions uttered by a great thinker (in this case on the issue of hell) are shown by Scripture to be the thoughts of one who does not even understand the most basic truths of God's Word.

I recently preached a sermon on Hebrews 6:1-3. The writer of Hebrews was rebuking his hearers for their spiritual immaturity in Hebrews 5:11-14. Then he exhorted these immature believers to, in essence, grow up and move on to maturity. As part of this exhortation he described what he considered to be the basic abc's of Christianity. Part of what he described as elementary principles, or milk fit for infants, was "the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment" (Hebrews 6:2). These "new" and "profound" musings of Bell that will attract so many are really devoid of any depth at all. Rather, they reflect on a spiritual level a lack of knowledge that even a spiritual kindergartner is expected to possess.

Yet Bell consistently makes his foolish statements sound appealing and self evident, which makes them all the more dangerous. One illustrative example stands out from the Time article. The writer notes that Bell has embraced a theology that says the most important thing for you is the here and now, not eternity. He then quotes Bell ‘When we get to what happens when we die, we don’t have any video footage,’ says Bell. ‘So let’s be honest that we are speculating, because we are.’

What an appealing statement to our modern minds. And of course there is truth in the statement. We do not possess video footage of hell. But the statement upon reflection is neither true or appealing; it is a lie and damning. The very premise of the statement is unbiblical and false, namely that if we don't have video footage of something, i.e., if we cannot see it, then we cannot know if it is real. As a pastor I worry that many will accept this reasonable sounding (but false) proposition without thinking it through in light of Scripture.

Jesus gives us a much more reliable picture of eternal punishment than any video when He describes the reality of the afterlife for the rich man and Lazarus, including the very real agony and torment of the rich man (Luke 16:19-31). But even without such a real and compelling image from Christ, we are never told to only believe what we see. In fact, after Jesus' resurrection, the Apostle Thomas for a brief time adopted the "I will believe only what I can see" approach proffered by Bell when he was told by the other disciples that Jesus was raised from the dead (John 20:25). After seeing Jesus however, he immediately realized the folly of his doubt (John 20:28). But what is most telling and enlightening for believers tempted to adopt Bell's approach is what Jesus said next at verse 29: Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed."

Rather than needing video proof to know truth, we have God's Word. The absence of a video or other such "evidence" hardly makes the clear teaching of Scripture on life after physical death mere "speculation" as Bell so arrogantly claims. Rather believing God's Word on faith receives Jesus' commendation and blessing. Bell's paradigm of "seeing is believing" is all the more troubling given that he claims to be a believer. God's Word affirms without hesistation that true believers walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Bell's approach to understanding hell finds no warrant or support in God's revealed Word.

The warning of Paul to the church at Colassae seems a fitting conclusion and exhortation. Paul was concerned that those peddling "persuasive arguments" would delude the saints, which of course is the same danger posed by the likes of Rob Bell. Paul in such a context gave the church this warning:

6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. 8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

Paul, through the Holy Spirit, has given every believer the tools needed to avoid being ensnared by the Satanic inspired deceptions of false teachers like Rob Bell. May God give us the wisdom and discernment to stand firm against the devil's schemes.

The True Light

by Bruce Mills

As we come to the Easter season, when we recall the single greatest event in the history of mankind—the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ—we need to remember why Jesus came to this world.  He didn’t come primarily to be a great example (though He was the perfect example), He didn’t come primarily to be a good Teacher (though He was the greatest teacher), and He didn’t come primarily to perform wonderful acts of kindness (though He was the most compassionate person who ever lived).  His primary purpose in coming was to bring Light and life to a sin-darkened world and save His elect children from their sins.

In John 8:12, Jesus is recorded as stating, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”  And earlier in the Gospel of John we are told that John the Baptist came as the forerunner of Christ, so that he could testify about that Light (John 1:7-8).  Now, there is something very important to consider here. Since when does someone have to testify about light? Why would anyone have to tell you “this is light”?

Several years ago, our family was on vacation and we stopped at Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. The tour guide took our tour group through the cave, pointing out various points of interest, and when we were far back in the cave, he turned out the lights and let us stand there in the darkness. And no matter how long we stood there, our eyes never got accustomed to the dark so that we could see anything. It was pitch black and no matter how long one might stand there, it will stay just like that. After we had stood there a while, the tour guide turned on a flashlight. And not one person in that cave said, “Where’s the light? Where’s the light?” When that flashlight went on, everybody knew the light was on. Nobody said, “Hey, look over there; there’s the light.” If you lit a match in that place, everyone would have seen that match. Nobody had to point out the light. But do you know what John came to do? He came to point out light to people living in blackness. So that begs the question, “Who needs light pointed out to them?”

There’s only one kind of person who needs to be pointed to the light. What kind? Blind people. And do you know what? Everyone in this world is blind. 2 Cor. 4:3 says, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.” Now here comes verse 4; watch this truth: “in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

That’s why Satan blinded them; so that they can’t see the light, and so God’s pastors and evangelists and proclaimers of His truth have to come along and say, “Look! Take my hand and let me show you the Light.” It’s pathetic that the sin darkened world hasn’t even got the sight to see the light. This is one reason why the apostle John includes the story of the blind man who Jesus healed in John 9. He was a blind man who could see the Light, and the unbelieving Pharisees were men who could physically see but were spiritually blind and missed the Light.

All unbelievers are like those fish in Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico that have been underground so long that their eyes are gone and all they have are empty sockets. Someone can turn the light on, but they can’t see it anyway. And so the Light came, blazing the brilliant, glorious Light of God into this world, and people couldn’t see it because they were blind and John the Baptist had to be the first one to take them by the hand and say, “There’s the Light.” And even then, it is only those who God heals their spiritual eyes and gives them the ability to see the true Light who will be saved.

This is what every preacher of God’s truth who has ever lived does. This is what you do when you witness to others about Christ. Our task as Christians, as witnesses, is to take people by the hand in their blindness, as they stumble around in darkness and show them the Light, because they can’t see it. And then it is God’s responsibility to open the spiritual eyes of those whom He has chosen from before the foundations of the world so that they see that Light. 

During this Easter season, when men and women are more aware of the origin of Easter, take opportunities—as God provides them—to lead people to the true Light that enlightens every man.

Does Love Win or Does the Truth Lose?

by Bruce Mills

For all of those out there who have heard of Rob Bell’s new book, Love Wins, and wonder whether or not it is worth the money to buy it and the time to read it, here is a thorough analysis and explanation of the book and the theological basis behind it from the pen of Dr. Al Mohler, President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  There is no way that I could write as well or as thoroughly as Dr. Mohler, so I am posting this link to his blog post on this highly publicized book which is creating so much stir in evangelical circles. http://bit.ly/h43YSC

Why Five Smooth Stones?

by Bruce Mills

I recently received a question from a friend who told me that another individual had told him that he had learned why David chose five smooth stones when he prepared to fight Goliath.  The individual went on to tell my friend an interesting story that was alleged to answer why David did such.  My friend commented to me that he could find no support for the story he was told, but wanted to know if I could tell him whether or not there was any theological significance regarding David’s selection.

My observation through the years is that there are a lot of people who seek to explain every detail in Scripture with a novel interpretation or explanation that will somehow make those details seem to be theologically significant.  I don’t deny that when the Holy Spirit inspired the Scriptures, every word was inspired and included for a reason.  However, I do not believe that there is some grandiose explanation for each of those details. 

Let me explain.  There is a lot of speculation over why David chose five stones.  Some of the explanations defy any reason or logic.  For example, one writer says they stand for faith, obedience, service, prayer, and the Holy Spirit.  The writer argues that the stones represent those characteristics because David displayed those traits in his life.  Hogwash!  David may have displayed such characteristics, but to state that the stones represent those characteristics is an exotic view and stretches the rules of biblical interpretation to the breaking point. 

A far more common explanation (which might be considered the traditional explanation) is an anecdotal story based on 1 Samuel 21:18-22, which makes an assumption that David knew Goliath had four brothers and was prepared to fight them once he defeated Goliath.  However, the problem with that assumption is that there is absolutely NOTHING in the story of David and Goliath found in 1 Samuel 17 that tells us that David knew Goliath had four brothers.  In fact, the details of the story seem to argue that David knew nothing about Goliath except that he was challenging and insulting the God of Israel and David was indignant that anyone would do such.  As one reads the story, David is seen asking questions to learn what is going on and what the plans are to deal with Goliath.  Remember, David was the youngest son who was left at home to tend the sheep while his older brothers went to war.  His father sent him to see his brothers to take food to them and determine how they were doing.  So David would have had no idea about Goliath or his family history at the time he arrived on the scene.

I think that rather than trying to find novel explanations for vague details such as the five stones, we need to notice the big contrast between David’s display of complete trust in Yahweh to defeat Israel’s enemy, and Saul’s dismay and complete lack of trust in God to deliver Israel.  There is also contrast of David choosing to trust God to give victory by using a shepherd’s sling, a weapon which no one would have ever considered the appropriate weapon to fight a giant, rather than trusting in man’s wisdom and methods, as seen in Saul’s offer to David to wear his armor.  That is a key point in the story—David’s trust in Yahweh rather than man’s wisdom.

When I attended seminary, I encountered many other guys who were always seeking to find novel explanations for such details in stories, but unless it is possible to back up an explanation with Scripture that is clear and unequivocal, we need to be very careful about being dogmatic about such explanations.  Many people do the same thing with types in the Old Testament.  Some people will see a type of Christ in every event and story in the Old Testament, but to do so they have to abandon the literal-historical-grammatical method of biblical interpretation for an allegorical method of interpretation which is speculative at best.  So my position is that unless a type is clear and unequivocal, supported by Scripture and the overwhelming body of orthodox, historical theology, I do not give them much credence.

My advice is that when you are dealing with narrative passages in the Bible, particularly those in the Old Testament, don’t bother yourself with concerns about highly speculative, exotic explanations for details such as the five smooth stones, but rather focus on those details of which the meaning is clearly evident.

So why did David choose five smooth stones?  Perhaps the simplest explanation is the best.  He was prepared and ready to reload again and again and again.  If he missed, he would run while reloading and fire again.  David was simply going into the fight with Goliath as prepared as possible, using the skills God had given him with a shepherd’s sling.  David was righteously indignant at Goliath’s insults against the name of Yahweh and was willing to defend that Name at any cost. He demonstrated his complete trust and reliance upon God for victory, and God demonstrated that David’s faith and trust in Him was well-founded.

Lessons in God’s Sovereignty from a Little Girl

by Bruce Mills

I have been studying and teaching on the life of Elisha, the Old Testament prophet.  I have arrived at 2 Kings 5 which records the story of the healing of Naaman the leprous Aramean (Syrian) military commander.  As I began studying the story, I encountered one of the characters in the story who I have never heard anyone talk about to any significant degree, yet this person plays a significant role in the story. This person is found in 2 Kings 5:2 and it is the unnamed little Jewish slave girl who informs Naaman’s wife about Elisha being able to heal Naaman of his leprosy.  She had been taken captive during one of the many raids which the Arameans had carried out against Israel. She was selected to be the slave girl in waiting for Mrs. Naaman.

Now think about this. Here we have an incredible story of God’s sovereignty at work. This little girl had been forcibly taken away from her home and her parents and forced to work as a slave for the top military commander’s wife in a foreign land. Who knows—perhaps her parents were even killed by the Aramean raiders when they went pillaging through Israel and captured her! So she had, at a very young age, become a slave. The text doesn’t tell us how old she was when she was taken captive, but she was probably there for at least a year or two because she had apparently learned the Aramean language, as she was able to express to her captors the information about Elisha.

Here we have God’s sovereignty at work again in what seems to us to be a negative manner. After all, God could have protected this little girl from being captured and carried away from her parents and put into service as a slave in Naaman’s household. But He didn’t. He let her be captured and hauled away. He certainly doesn’t seem like a God of mercy and love when you look at it that way. But God doesn’t look at things like we do (cf. Isaiah 55:9). Her story is very similar to that of Joseph, whose brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt, and years later when he has risen to be the prime minister of Egypt, he is reunited with his brothers and tells them, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive” (Gen. 50:20).

So here is this little girl—young, far from home, enslaved to serve Naaman’s wife—and yet she maintains a positive attitude of humble submission to those over her. This is seen in her statement to Naaman’s wife regarding Naaman’s leprosy. She says, “I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy” (2 Kings 5:3).

Now you might think, “Hmm, I’ve never heard of someone who had been captured and enslaved, speak with such thoughtful, kind terms about her captors. Instead of saying, “I wish my master would die of his disease. After all, he deserves to, since he snatched me away from my home and made me a slave. I wish God would help me escape and get back home to my family,” she says, “I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy.”

This is clearly the work of God in her life. She had a positive attitude despite her circumstances. She cared for her master and had his best interest at heart. There is no hint of dissatisfaction or discontent with her situation in life. Even at her young age, there was a maturity beyond her years in terms of understanding that God had sovereignly placed her in her circumstances and had a purpose in doing so.

Now, someone might argue, “Well, perhaps her circumstances in Syria as Naaman’s slave were better than her family’s circumstances back in Israel. Maybe that’s why she didn’t complain.” I will admit that it is certainly possible that her circumstances as a slave may have been better than her life had been back in Israel, but it is also true that in general the circumstances of the average African slave here in America in the 1800s was better than the average African living in Nigeria at that time. Yet those slaves yearned and longed for freedom from their slavemasters. You see, when you take away a person’s freedom, it doesn’t matter how much better their circumstances may be. Apart from an understanding of God’s sovereign work in their lives, they will rebel against that slavery; if not outwardly, at least internally. Yet in this young girl’s words we see the desire of her heart that her master would be healed by God’s prophet Elisha back in Samaria. No complaining about her own situation; just concern for her master’s situation.

Iinterestingly, this story doesn’t have a Hollywood happy ending for this little girl. There is no reward of freedom for her after Naaman is healed. We would like for there to be a verse thrown in somewhere in the chapter which tells us that when Naaman got home, he set the little girl free and sent her home to live with her parents back in Israel. After all, she is the one who brought up the possibility of Elisha healing Naaman, but after verse 4, this little girl is never mentioned again in the story. She may have spent the rest of her life as a slave, working for Naaman’s wife.

What this teaches us is the need to be content in our circumstances, because they may never change. In fact, they may even get worse from a human perspective. But no matter what happens, we must rest in the truth of the doctrine of the sovereignty of God. Do you remember what Paul said in Phil. 4:11-12? He wrote: “Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.” The writer of Hebrews instructs us, “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you’” (13:5).

Far too often we behave sinfully when the providence of God goes against our will and we find that God has placed us in situations which we hate and dislike. But God is trustworthy to stand with us in those difficult circumstances, no matter what they may be. He promises to never desert us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), so it doesn’t matter how bad our circumstances may be, He has promised to be with us every step of the way. Therefore, we can be content in that situation, knowing that God is in control and will not permit us to suffer more than we are able to endure.

In this case, God intended and sovereignly placed that little girl in Naaman’s household so that He could use her as the link in the chain that led to the healing of Naaman’s leprosy and the magnification of God’s glory as He is seen reaching out to the Gentiles and providing cleansing and salvation from the awful condition of sin. What tremendously important lessons about how to respond to the seemingly negative circumstances of our lives we can learn from this young unnamed slave girl.  The next time you begin to complain about your particular situation, remember that God has sovereignly placed you in that situation, and He has done so for His glory and your good.

A Lesson in True Integrity

by Bruce Mills

In the movie “The Legend of Bagger Vance” released in 2000, Matt Damon plays Rannulph Junuh, a former golfing great. One of the final scenes of the movie demonstrates personal character and integrity in a way rarely seen in today’s secular films.

Junuh, who has been greatly impacted by his experiences in World War I, is living as an alcoholic bum until Bagger Vance becomes his caddy and helps him regain his golf swing as well as teaching him several important life lessons. Once Bagger sees that Junuh has learned those lessons, he disappears from the scene and a young boy named Hardy takes his place as Junuh’s caddy.

At the end of the movie, Junuh is playing in a two-day tournament against Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen, two of the greatest golfers to ever pick up a club. On the final hole of the match, the three golfing rivals are all neck and neck. Junuh is preparing to chip onto the green when he reaches down to remove a twig from beside his ball. As he picks up the twig his ball moves slightly. The young caddy Hardy was the only one to witness the ball move.

Junuh reveals tremendous courage as he admits, “The ball moved.”

Hardy immediately begs him not to say anything, as he is sure it would mean defeat. Hardy tells him, “No one saw it move but me and you. I promise I will never tell. No one will ever know.”

Junuh displays even more resolve and courage as he instructs Hardy, “I’ll know and you will know.”

Naturally, the movie ends happier than we can always expect in real life, but the message is clear that our response should be the same regardless of the outcome. Many times in life—whether at work, school, home, or in the marketplaces of our society—we have opportunities to cut corners or get ahead because our actions go unnoticed, but to live a life of integrity requires faithfulness in the small things. If we don’t practice our integrity when alone, we will be less likely to do the right thing when someone else is watching.

Jesus said it best in Luke 16:10, “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.” What about in your workplace, classroom, or home? Have you had any balls move lately that you haven’t told anyone about? Do what is right even when no one else is doing it, and never do wrong, even when everyone else is doing it.

An Open Letter to Brian McLaren

Posted by Bruce Mills

This link is to a post of an open letter by Frank Turk over at Pyromaniacs to Brian McLaren, one of the founders and primary protagonists of the Emergent Church movement.  It is lengthy, but it hits the spot so perfectly, I just had to link to it for others to read.  Thanks, Frank, for calling things as they truly are.

http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2011/01/open-letter-to-brian-mclaren.html

A Man Named Elisha

by Bruce Mills

After almost three years, I finally finished teaching through the book of Romans in my adult Sunday School class.  It was a massive undertaking which I thoroughly enjoyed.  Before I jump into my next major undertaking (the Gospel of John), I am taking out a few weeks to study the life and ministry of Elisha, one of the Old Testament’s great prophets.  As I’ve been studying this week, I found that there is much about Elisha’s call to ministry that is important for all believers to understand. 

Elisha’s call to the prophetic ministry is found in 1 Kings 19:15-21.  The text reads as follows:

The Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram; and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. It shall come about, the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death. Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, while he was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. And Elijah passed over to him and threw his mantle on him. He left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” So he returned from following him, and took the pair of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the implements of the oxen, and gave it to the people and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah and ministered to him.

Now notice that here, as always, God takes the initiative. Elisha was not seeking Him, but the Lord through Elijah sought out him. It wasn’t because Elisha was already prepared to be a prophet, but because God in His sovereignty chose him and called him. God would take care of the preparation after he called him. But once again, we see the doctrine of the sovereignty of God coming into play here. God is the one who selected Elisha and set him apart for ministry. And He continues to do the same thing today. He selects men and sets them apart to do his work.

In this passage, we see two misconceptions which overtake many people in ministry: (1) the feeling that they are the only person who is standing for the truth and (2) that they are indispensible. Elijah was no different. Earlier in this chapter, he had fled from Jezebel who was out to kill him, and he lays down under a juniper tree and pleads with God to take his life (19:4). But instead God provides an angel to cook him some food and Elijah goes on for 40 days on the strength that the food provided him. But when God questions him as to why he is hiding out in the mountains, Elijah says in verse 10, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” He had concluded that he was the only person who was still faithful to God. But God reveals Himself to Elijah in a gentle breeze and basically says, “Elijah, it’s time to get to work. You’re not the only one left—there are 7,000 people who haven’t bowed the knee to Baal. And another thing, Elijah, you’re not indispensible. In fact, I’m going to have you appoint your replacement.”  So many times men in ministry begin to listen to and believe all the accolades that come their way as they preach and teach. And when they see all the moral failures and false teachers that are assaulting the church around them, they begin to think that they are the only people who are standing for the truth.

Another problem many pastors experience is never planning for their replacement. By that, I don’t mean that they need to handpick their successor. But I do mean that they need to be discipling men and teaching men what to look for in a pastor, so that if they suddenly die or become gravely ill, there are other men who are able to step in and take over the teaching and leadership responsibilities. But many pastors believe they are indispensible and that the church simply can’t get along without them. Well, that may be true of their specific church, if they haven’t trained and developed other leaders who are capable of teaching the Word. But in terms of the church universal, Jesus said that such will never be the case. No one person is so crucial to God’s work that the church will collapse if they are not there. The church, the body of Christ, will continue and even the gates of hell cannot overwhelm it.

But this does raise the point that every local church ought to be developing leaders for the future. Men who meet the biblical qualifications for elder should be identified and then trained. Training does not have to include Bible college or seminary, although those are beneficial. But a man who has a heart and passion to learn and teach the Word should be taught and exposed to the ministry in such a way that he learns what is involved and what is expected of a pastor as a teacher and shepherd of the flock. He needs to be placed in a position of exposure to the ministry in which he spends time learning how to respond biblically to crisis situations so that the elders can observe whether his approach to problems is biblical or not.  He should be given teaching opportunities so the elders can listen and confirm whether or not he is sound in the faith and able to communicate truth clearly.  He should be required to write and defend his doctrinal position in every major area of theology. This process is so crucial because the protection of the flock is at stake. Pick a man who is a wolf in sheep’s clothing and the church can be divided and destroyed.

Well, that’s just a little bit of what I will be teaching this next Sunday on the calling of Elisha.  As I dig into the Old Testament narrative about him, I am amazed at how much our great God communicates to us through Elisha’s life.  I’m looking forward to what God has to teach me over the next several weeks.