October 25, 2024

“You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”

 ~C.S. Lewis~

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, and houses full of all good things which you did not fill ...vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you shall eat and be satisfied, then watch yourself lest you forget the Lord..." (Deuteronomy 6:10-12)


Wow…does this sound prophetic? Here we are on the edge of election day in America, and it is very difficult to recognize America. Most of the perversion, lying, deceit, and distrust of all things government can be attributed to forgetting the Lord.



Cotton Mather wrote in Magnalia Christi Americana, 1702:

"Religion begat prosperity and the daughter devoured the mother." (Deuteronomy 6:10-12)

 

It is a sad commentary that the power and prestige of America have withered because of complacency.

John Wesley left a sober warning in 1789:

"Christianity, true scriptural Christianity, has a tendency in the process of time to destroy itself.

For wherever true Christianity spreads, it must cause diligence and frugality, which, in the natural course of things, must beget riches! 

And riches naturally beget pride, love of the world, and every temper that is destructive to Christianity. Wherever it generally prevails, it ultimately saps its own foundation."

 

I wonder if we will change the ending.


Serving Him with you

Until He comes for us.

Fred   

October 18, 2024

The Church Has Many Critics but No Rivals

I am teaching a course at seminary on Ecclesiology - the Church. It is now 2,000 years old from its beginning at Pentecost with a few frightened men and women and has grown into….What? 


Richard Halverson, former Chaplin of the United States Senate, captures the history and perhaps the trajectory of the church over the centuries as it matured around the world:


"In the beginning, the church was a fellowship of men and women centered on living for Christ. Then the church moved to Greece, where it became a philosophy. Then it moved to Rome and became an institution. Next, it moved to Europe where it became a culture. And finally, it moved to America, where it became an enterprise."   

 

Are we an enterprise with productions to produce, products to sell, markets to penetrate, scandals to avoid, and CEO’S to lead? I live in Dallas and we have seen many scandals of well-known CEO-pastors in the papers over the past few months. The result is that many have left the church, uncertain of its purpose and its integrity. The good news is that this is a minority both in terms of pastors failing and people leaving, but it is still a reality.


  • Pray for your pastor and elders for purity of heart and clarity of leadership.
  • Pray for yourself for purity of heart and wisdom of mind.


And always remember and take heart. Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled” He also said, "I will build My church and the gates of hell will not prevail."


Serving Him with you

Until He comes for us.

Fred   

October 11, 2024

“America is the best possible place at the worst possible time.”

Why is America the best? The Church. Why is America the worst? The Church.


The Church was the formulating catalyst for the foundation of America. The Church was the fundamental conscience of our culture, the pillar of our society. It spoke with grace and truth and guided a young nation to honor God and bless the world.


The Church today has lost it voice. It does not seem to know how to speak the truth in love. It has capitulated concerning the concept of truth and is confused concerning the expression of biblical love.


What can we do as a culture or as citizens? 


  • Remember what the Lord desires.
  • Repent of what we have become.  
  • Return to walking in wisdom, walking in the light, walking in love.


LET'S NOT FORGET. WE ARE THE CHURCH.


Serving Him with you

Until He comes for us.

Fred   

October 4, 2024

The House of Delusion is Cheap to Build But Drafty to Live In

~A.E. Housman~

It appears that many Christians are living in a delusional world. They have constructed their view of the world - a worldview - which is partially biblical but potentially worldly. The problem has to do with truth.


As Os Guinness reminds us. “a climate has been created in which flagrant nonsense or complete error can be believed, and incontrovertible truth, in turn can be disbelieved—without the question of their being objectively true or false being raised at all. In short, we have created a climate in which a thing’s seeming to be true is often mistaken for its being true.” Sounds like it must be a political season!!!!!


The church is to be the pillar of truth, the salt and light of a society. We can only do and be that if we do what Jesus said. We must build our house upon the rock and not on the sand.


Instead, we often begin with a dollop of the Bible, season it with American pragmatism, add a pinch of civic religion, and a spoonful of mysticism, top it off with a donation to a charity, and lightly dusted with a smile. Bake for a generation and we have a scrumptious, syncretistic, societally acceptable meal that appears to go down easy, but it's not very nourishing and it may leave a sour taste.


We must always remember Madeleine L’Engle, “Truth is eternal, knowledge is changeable.” It is disastrous to confuse them.


Jesus reminds us “Thy word is truth.” (John 17)


Serving Him with you

Until He comes for us.

Fred