April 25, 2025

We must preach not what men want to hear, but what one day they will have wished they would have heard. ~Sir Lancelot Andrews~

I have just returned from a study leave at Oxford University. (England, not Mississippi) Oxford is truly the city of churches, chapels, cathedrals, and many spires. Some were created by the Catholic church in 1265 AD. (I went to a Catholic university, where I felt I had a double major in celibacy. As a protestant, I felt like the chief rabbi in Mecca.) But Oxford is now regulated by the Protestant Church of England. Interestingly, there was little evidence that Easter was close at hand. The city has a reputation for ritualism, religiosity, and scholarship, but not the reality of a profound Biblical Spirituality. We had the joy of visiting and touring the home of C.S. Lewis, the Kilns. I was reminded of Lewis’ exhortation: “One must keep pointing out that Christianity is a statement which, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important."  The Christ of Christianity is neither mildly nor moderately important. He is essential and the quintessential truth. And just because the truth is unpopular does not mean we should not proclaim it.  Because Easter is true, John Walvoord reminds us that "Jesus planted the only durable rumor of hope amid widespread despair and doubt in a hopeless world."             Serving Him with you Until He comes for us. Fred

April 18, 2025

Time  The continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past through the present and into the future. ~Oxford Dictionary~

We are living in a time today that we might only understand in retrospect in a future time. Perspective is often linked to time. God asks us to trust Him with today and believe the invisible about tomorrow. The Bible asks us to live today in light of tomorrow. This is the great lesson of Hebrews 11 and the “Heroes of the Faith.” They were looking for a city, a country, and a kingdom. They never found it, and they all died (except for Enoch.) They are presented to us as heroes of faith because--- Faith means believing in the invisible. They did and so should we. But we must also understand that Faith does not mean everything will turn out okay, but that we are okay no matter how things turn out. To hold that perspective requires maturity that comes from a dynamic relationship with the Lord over time by which we have experienced fellowship with Him which allows us to trust Him. And so, I find that “Faith means believing in advance that which only makes sense in reverse.” However, as Helmut Thielicke reminds us from the time he pastored his church in Nazi Germany; “If we can trust Him with the last hour then we can trust Him with the next minute.” Enough said.                                 Serving Him with you Until He comes for us. Fred

April 11th - Friday with Fred

No one can become a liberal by reading the Bible, you have to go to school for that.

It is fascinating how hard liberal Christians need to work to come up with the moral and social viewpoints they desire. Creativity is a good skill, but not when you are interpreting the Bible. When I listen to most politicians and many pastors expound their conclusions of what the Bible says, I remind myself that if you do not like their conclusion, go back and check their premises. Premises are where you find presuppositions and prejudices.   Woke culture, DEI, Israeli persecution from the river to the sea, open border invasion, critical race theory, and the violent expressions of Black Lives Matter and Antifa are all sanctioned by a misinterpretation and a misapplication of the inspired word of God. Even homosexuality and transgender ideologies are supposedly sanctioned by Scripture. In the hands of the liberal mind not only has the Constitution become a living document that must be rescued from the original intent of its framers, but the biblical idea of love must be updated beyond what the Bible has declared and God ordained it to be. We live in a world of 24/7 noise that passes itself off as information. It is the circus that never ends. In the religious world, we also have access to the constant flow of webinars, podcasts, tweets, sub-stacks, and emails that fill our in-boxes and our brains with what is reported and purported to be the truth. Let me encourage you to practice the Square One Principle which states: He who goes back to the beginning will finish in the end. The beginning is to know that in both the Old Testament and New Testament the truth is to be found in God's inspired words. Psalm 119:10-12 - With all my heart I have sought Thee; Do not let me wander from Thy commandments. Thy word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee. Blessed art Thou O Lord; teach me Thy statutes. 2 Timothy 3:16 -  All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.                            Serving Him with you Until He comes for us. Fred

April 4th - Friday with Fred

Free Love

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area at the height of the Hippie movement and Jesus Freak era. I know… that might explain a great deal to some of you about me!!!! And yes, I played the drums in a “rock band”… my mother’s shattered nerves! One of the staples of that culture was the “Love in or Free Love.”  However, for the past 50 years, I have been telling people about a real Free Love, a love you can never earn and a love you can never lose. (John 3:16, 5:24) But many Christan’s believe that simply believing is too simple. It is too easy. As Charlie Bing reminds us, the two words seem similar but they are different. According to the Meriam-Webster Dictionary: •    The meaning of easy is causing or involving little difficulty or discomfort, requiring or indicating little effort, thought, or reflection. •    The meaning of simple is sheer, unmixed, free of secondary complications. The saving message of eternal life is simple. All a person must do is believe that Jesus, the son of God who died and rose again to pay for their sin, can grant them eternal life. That is simple and uncomplicated. It might not be easy since, in my case, it caused me to realize that I would be going against all that my family taught me and would cause me some discomfort if not difficulty. But the Free Love of Jesus is simple to know and simple to receive. It is so simple that even a child can do it!                              Serving Him with you Until He comes for us. Fred