Idol In Your Heart

We all know that idolatry is wrong, and very few of us have gods or statues in our house that we would worship. And of course, we've all heard that idols can be actual statues or just anything we worship other than God.

It is important to remember that that is an application from the text and not the meaning of the text. That does not mean that it is wrong to preach or teach idolatry texts in this way; the application is solid, but I worry about the confusion of the two.

In the book of Ezekiel, we hear about Israelites who have created "idols in their heart." The expression seems to indicate an emphasis on the dedication to the idols that have been made. This passage then fits best with such an application of idolatry as what we worship.

And the passage speaks rather interestingly about it. Ezekiel 14:3-8 reads,

"Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them? Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the Lord will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations. For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the Lord will answer him by myself: And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the Lord."

Wherefore should I be enquired of at all by them? If they worship someone other than me in their hearts, why should I take the time to speak with them? They don't really want me to, or else they would worship me and not someone else.

That is God's just response. Those who come to Him while serving someone else are not ones that He will be speaking to. He still loves them, but they are not ready to truly get to know Him.

So maybe if you're not getting something from the Lord, it's because you are worshipping something other than God.

Church, According to the Scriptures

In the much talk about revitalizing churches today in order to remain relevant to the culture, there seems to be little in the likes of a comprehensive analysis of what the Bible says church should look like. Maybe this has something to do with the fact that it would require a lifetime’s worth of study of the Bible to even begin to comprehend what the Bible has to say about church. 

This essay will thus only scratch the surface of this important topic, but what I aim to do is give a biblical foundation for church found by looking comprehensively at Paul’s admonitions to the young pastors Timothy and Titus, as well as examining the example set out by the apostles in the book of Acts. In so doing, I discovered what I call the three S’s of church management – sound doctrine, structure, and service.

Sound Doctrine

As I read through the pastoral epistles, I was immediately taken aback by the amount of times that Paul mentions and expounds upon sound doctrine. To him, it seems one of the primary roles of the church is to expound upon and share sound doctrine to the members of the congregation. 

From the beginning to end of Paul’s three epistles to these gentlemen he documents the importance of teaching sound doctrine because if they don’t, many will fall to fables. For instance, in I Timothy 4:6-16, Paul instructs Timothy,

“If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained. But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe. These things command and teach. Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.”

In the book of Titus, Paul expresses more of the same, as he writes, 

“Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake. One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, the Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith.”

It is then important for the church to be a place where sound doctrine is taught. But what exactly does that look like? Well, one obvious starting point is that sound doctrine begins and ends with the Gospel and the rest of Scriptures. But even then, that doesn’t specifically guarantee that sound doctrine is being taught in the church and received by the congregation. 

Luckily, the Bible gives clearer guidelines for the pastor in this area. As the Bible says in II Timothy 2:14-16, 

“Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.” 

Here Timothy as a pastor is asked to study the Word of God day in and day out so that he can rightly divide it. But more than that, he is supposed to study the Word, so as to avoid the profane and vain babblings that are fruitless and even harmful. 

Careful and Spirit-led study of the Bible should prevent the pastor from teaching false doctrine. If you need further evidence on this, just look at the apostles, and their ability to preach the entire redemption story through referencing and quoting many Old Testament passages by heart.

Structure

As we move through into next big area of the biblical church, we begin to take a look at structure. 

Structure in general is not given out in quite as much detail as one might expect given the very uniform structure of churches across the United States and even around the world. Yet there is still somewhat to be gained from an analysis of the structure mentioned within the Bible itself.

The structure of the leadership is described probably most detailed of all. The first thing to notice is that local leadership is key. Paul started a lot of churches in his missionary journeys, but he held no authority over those churches after he moved on. 

Instead, as Acts 14:21-23 states, 

“And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.” 

Indeed, the very existence of the pastoral epistles goes to show that Paul was entrusting the care of the churches he planted to other men and not trying to run them via proxy. The significance of this is that the service which the church is supposed to do together (which we will discuss later) is hard to manage from a distant location.

But the leaders themselves have a little bit of a job to do. They are of course requested to teach sound doctrine, but they are also expected to live up to a considerable amount of character qualities. 

These pastoral requirements are documented in I Timothy 2:11-3:7 and Titus 1:7-13, and include: man, blameless, husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, apt to teach, not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre, patient, not a brawler, not covetous, one that rules well his own house, one with experience, not self-willed, not soon angry, a lover of good men, just, holy, temperate, one who holds fast to sound doctrine, and a good report of the unbeliever. 

That is quite a hefty obligation! But according to I Timothy, this is because it is “a good work.” The pastor’s actual work involves of course, expounding sound doctrine, but it also extends to nurturing and shepherding the flock of God as they need it.

Before we leave the structure of the leadership within the local church, it is important to discuss the deacons. ITimothy 3:8-13 documents a list about as exhaustive as the list of character traits for pastors for deacons, but little is given in that passage as to what the deacons actually do. 

What seems to be clearer about different functions of different leaders within the church is Acts 6:1-2. Here we read that the twelve apostles (that were serving as pastors) were supposed to be primarily focused with studying the Bible and declaring the sound doctrine of the Gospel. But the church still had other functions with which to participate in. Thus, we read, 

“And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.” 

Thus, it would seem that the other leaders in the church are supposed to primarily be concerned with ministering unto the needs of the church congregation, while the pastor(s) focus on spreading the good news. However, this does not preclude the pastor from ever ministering to the sick, nor the other leaders from declaring the Gospel – just pay attention to the life of Stephen!

There are two other important points about structure of the church that I would like to make really quick. First, note that membership within the church wasn’t added until after people accepted Christ and then were baptized as an outward sign of the inward regeneration of the Spirit. Acts 2:41 declares, 

“Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” 

Thus, while church is certainly a place where all are welcome (Jesus came for the sinners right?), membership is reserved solely for the baptized believer. 

Second, there is precious little in the Bible about the structure of a church service. Indeed, Acts 2:46-47 indicates that the early church would come together daily in the temple or just in breaking bread from house to house. The only thing listed as happening when they met together is that they praised God continually. 

Thus, the Bible seems to be ok with a more informal church fellowship rather than just the service we consider the assembly of believers today. While the structure of the days we currently live demand that we have an opportunity for a structured church service, maybe we as Christians shouldn’t be so quick to apply the teachings of Hebrews 10:25 to describe as heathens anyone who missed a church service. That doesn’t seem to be its original context. We should only treat as sin that which is forsaking the formal or informal assembly of believers altogether.

Service

The main attention and purpose of the church should be service. Now by service I do not refer to the meeting time every Sunday that I just finished discussing, but rather the idea of meeting the needs of the believers, or the community, or just so much as obeying God. No matter the area in which this service is conducted, it all must be motivated from love and driven by the Gospel.

The early church clearly modelled that we should serve other believers within our community. It all begins with the example of material provision granted in Acts 2:45, where we are told the early church, “sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.” But material provision is only the start of it. 

What is more important is that the spiritual welfare of those around them. II Timothy 2:1-2 explains the function of discipleship in the church, 

“Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”

Here is the directive which shows that all Christians are called to a discipleship mechanism. This discipleship mechanism is something that can be done through a formula or a curriculum, but is much more likely to occur by simple one-on-one informal training. I

t takes noticing the potential of an individual and training him to grow in the Lord. In Acts18:25-27, Aquila and Priscilla model this form of discipleship quite well, 

“This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace.” 

And of course it would be remiss not to speak to how Jesus did not run through a program to train His twelve disciples, but instead served with them, spent time with him, and ultimately gave them the opportunity to serve alone.

But the church also has a function in serving the needs of the community. Little is given in the needs of the church to supply these needs, whether they be spiritual or physical. It is quite possible that these needs are to be met not by the church collectively, but the believer individually, and the church serves as support or maybe even a collaborative effort to fulfill that endeavor. 

Thus, the church will run ministries like the food pantry to help their members serve the community, but ultimately it is not the church (structured) but the church (body of believers) that are committed to evangelizing and supplying physical need. 

Nevertheless, the act of sending out missionaries with prayer and monetary support seems to be supported by the sending forth of Barnabus first, and then Barnabus and Paul, and then also including Silas and Mark. World evangelism is something that not every Christian can handle on their own. It often takes the pooling together of resources within a church to fulfill that function.

Furthermore, the primary duty of the church had to do with serving God corporately. In II Timothy 2:22, we hear the principle, “follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” We are called to serve God, but we are also called to do so collectively. 

In the book of Acts, we see this readily on display. In Acts 2:46-47, we read, 

“And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” 

It is then a primary function of the church to allow opportunities for fellowship and opportunities for support meetings. The church should be a place where people come to be encouraged and challenged in their walk with God. But more than any of that, it should be a place where they come to praise the Lord for the goodness He has wrought in their lives.

Conclusion

So there you have it, the beginnings of what a church looks like, according to the Scriptures. Certainly, it seems that not much time has thus far been spent on such a summary and I hope that in the future more study will be done. If nothing else, I will provide a more complete summary of the subject over time and begin on my life-long quest of what a biblical church actually looks like. 

The Lord will Fight for your Worship

Just in case you were wondering, you should trust God. Such we see admonished in the earlier verses of Isaiah 26. But as you would expect from a well-crafted biblical book, it doesn't repeat that same phrasing over and over again with no further exposition.

As Isaiah continues onward through his explanation of the topic, he reveals an interesting part of God's character. One that is very unique and very real in our lives to this day.

Specifically, look to verses 12-16,

"Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us. O Lord our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name. They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish. Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth. Lord, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them."

So, it would seem from these verses that the Israelites worshiped false gods that were not the LORD. This the Lord responded to by destroying those gods so that even so much of their memory perished.

The Lord does not let His dominion and the worship that he rightfully deserves to head over to another being at any time. Instead, He determines that He will keep the loyalty of His people, even if that means destroying their other gods.

Seeing how the Lord is immutable and all, it seems obvious that He still acts in the same way today though the application may be a little bit different. Sometimes though, when the Lord begins to see our hearts being turned away to other things that are not Him, He will fight for our hearts by destroying our idols to being with.

But just because the Lord will fight for you, doesn't mean that you should make Him. On the contrary, like other elements of God's grace, I believe that this should only encourage you to try harder to live in a way pleasing to the One who would do so much for someone He doesn't need at all.

How about a Psalm of Praise (with only Minor Points of Application)

  There is a great truth, which cannot be suppressed by any Christian. I am fairly certain that all denominations can and do ascribe to this one belief. Disagree as we might on issues ranging from the mundane to the doctrinal, from the legitimacy of divorce to the extent of God's predestination, we all agree on one fundamental point (among others too).

God is pretty dang awesome! Kinda an incredible transcendent being that I ultimately can't try to pen down in words. A God who had the unlimited power necessary to speak this world in existence, and the unlimited knowledge to know what would all transpire after He did so. 

So why does He even care about the lives of us lowly human beings? From a purely logical standpoint, I must admit that the God of the Deists makes sense. The God who is big enough to create this world should have no reason to seek any pleasure or present any interest in it. 

But our human logic just can't understand the transcendence of God's reasoning and inclinations apparently. Still the question should be raised. Why does God even care about the lives of us lowly humans? 

It is a question that is raised at least twice in the Old Testament, though from two vastly different attitudes. 

We already looked at Job's response to the Lord's immanence and care for the plights of men, and honestly this post is about praise, not why we should be glad that the Lord cares to convict us of our sin. 

So I shall move on and conclude with the praise given by David for the same thought process. Looking at Psalm 8, 

"O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!" 

"Christianizing" Patriotism: Why it Trivializes Both

Some of you who have followed this blog for a little while may have wondered why on Friday my post didn't have to do with Independence Day. After all, I have in the past, had a Thanksgiving post, a Christmas post, a New Year's Post, a Valentine's Day Post, an Easter post, and a Memorial Day post. Obviously, Independence Day is as important and worthwhile a holiday as most of those.

So why the sudden lack of post for Independence Day? Quite frankly, it was because this holiday came on par with a devotional post. I didn't want to replace a devotional post with a political one.

One is sure to then wonder again why I didn't just write a devotional post that branched into freedom of some sort. Now it is easy to find practical lessons in the Bible about love, thanksgiving, and specific Biblical events of the life of Jesus (that last one is particularly easy).

However, I believe that working in this manner to present both Christianity and patriotism within the same blog post would trivialize one or both of the two concepts.

Now don't get me wrong. There is nothing contrary in these two concepts. Christians in my mind have a duty to be patriotic and support their nation, just as they have a duty to worship the Lord. However, combining these two duties within the same ceremony may not be the best idea in the world.

In churches across America over the prior two Sundays, church congregations have been met with special patriotic services endowed with patriotic songs, pledges to the flag, and perhaps the reading of the Declaration of Independence.

Now here's my crazy, perhaps radical feeling. Church is a place where we come to worship God. We come to church to fellowship with other believers, hear from God's word, and praise Him for what He has done. We do not go to church in order to exalt our nation.

I believe that it is outside the purpose of a church service to spend all of our time focusing on what God has done for us by blessing us with living in this fine country. A patriotic song or two, maybe even a short spiel before the sermon would be entirely appropriate, since our country is a blessing from God that we can take time to thank Him for.

But that should be the end of it within the context of a church service; we must remember that our goal is to praise God and focusing solely on the patriotic spirit will cause us to lose that objective in our church service. Instead I think a church-wide picnic would be more suitable for cultivating the patriotic spirit of the church.

So even on the Sundays around patriotic holidays focus on the Lord. Within the context of the church, we must ensure that patriotism is just another way of expressing our blessings.

But outside the church service, I feel we Christians have an opposite problem. In that particular avenue, when we come together to respect our nation, we try to be sure to add God and Christianity onto our patriotic traditions. A great example of this is the Pledge to the Christian Flag.

In a given patriotic ceremony, Christians will start off by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Immediately thereafter Pledge to Christian Flag and the Pledge to the Bible will be recited. The first priority always goes to the American flag, making the Christian Flag and the Bible lower in importance than the American flag and thus nothing more than add-ons.

But the Lord should never ever be an add-on. That is degrading to the Creator of the universe. We need not take a action and force some explicit Christian teaching onto the end to make it more worthwhile. Patriotism is a duty we have as Christians, an implicit service to the Lord.

Attempting to make that service explicit indicates to all that patriotism isn't a noble enough cause to stand on its own. Thus, we unintentionally trivialize both patriotism and God within the same fell swoop.

All these actions do come from the right heart, but methinks that these traditions are just a bit degrading to the principles of God and patriotism. That is why I didn't write a post for Independence Day.

I hope that you enjoyed celebrating our Founders' rebellion against tyrannical laws by setting off some fireworks in rebellion against authoritarian laws (or maybe you might be lucky enough to live in a state where such rebellion is not necessary). Let freedom ring! "Murca!

Worship is God

As Christians, we often focus a lot of our time on worshipping God and ensuring that we do not make idols in our life.

Let's just be honest though, when we use that term, we are using it more metaphorically than literally. We aren't as likely to find ourselves building stone images and bowing down to them in our day as we are to put things in our life ahead of Christ.

Now we all automatically know these things. There are things that while innocuous of themselves can be sinful if we put them too high in our lives. In fact, anything despite how innocuous it is in and of itself becomes sinful and becomes idolatrous when we treat it as a higher priority than we do Christ.

While we typically think of cultural things like television, music, and books as being things that we have to watch to keep within their proper sphere to avoid idolatry. We tend to forget that all things are actually like this.

Have you ever stopped to consider whether the way you worship God had become more important to you than actually worshipping God? Have you ever found yourself in a position where you find your ministry within a church to be an end within itself, and not a means to please God?

If you said, yes, then I'm sorry, my friend, but you're an idolater. Yes, you are in love with the process that you use to worship God. Yes, you are in love with the ministry that you have been placed in. Yes, you are in love with the things of God. Yes, there is nothing wrong with that.

But there is something wrong with displacing your love for God with this love. Burk Parsons explains in Assured by God, 

"Some Christians have studied the Word of God for many years. They know their Bible backward and forward, and they know every doctrinal "i" that should be dotted, and every systematic 't' that should be crossed. The love the theology of the word of God, but their love for God Himself has been displaced... Whether it is our love of spending time studying things about God or whether it is our love of spending time serving God, such things can too easily replace our love for God Himself who is our great reward and inheritance... We must be consumed with the understanding that all of our service o God and all of our understanding about God should lead us to love God more and more."

 When I read these words two weeks ago, the Holy Spirit much convicted me that this was what I was doing in my Christian life. I had begun to enjoy the study of the Bible, not because it corrected me, or brought me closer to God, but rather because it gave me an intellectual footstool to find a greater knowledge about God. But all that knowledge was on a more abstract and less personal basis.

But of course that doesn't mean I should stop studying the Bible! That would be a horrendous move on my part. What it does mean is I need to pray and work on my mindset during such activity to ensure I have dedicated it to the Lord and not my intellectual benefit.

Perhaps the same should be done in churches across America, where I believe ministry, church attendance, and probably yes, even intellectual knowledge about God has displaced the love that Christians feel for God Himself.

Modes of worship are not God, but we certainly can't treat them so at times. When we do, no matter how beneficial and amazing the act is in and of itself, it has become our idolatry. We just can't have that.

Sacrifice vs "Sacrifice"

In the book of Malachi, the spiritual condition of post-exilic Israel is once more being discussed. By this time, the Temple has been rebuilt and sacrifices are continuing. However, all is not well with the worship and sacrifices that the Lord is receiving by the hands of the Israelites.

The Israelites are trying to find ways to get away with going through the motions of sacrificing without actually "sacrificing" anything. Providing lambs that are of no use to them whatsoever, they are using the Lord's Temple as a garbage bin.

If they were to pass this off to any man, he would not accept it. If they were to give it to their governor, he would not accept it. So instead they pass it off to God. 

But the Lord is not pleased with this type of "sacrifice." As he says in Malachi 1:6-8, as the great King of Israel and the Lord of all the earth, he deserves more than the governors of the land, not less. 

"A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible. And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts."

If you were to take the devotion that you present to the Lord, and present it instead to say, your father (it is Father's Day this Sunday after all), would he be pleased with your actions? Would he acknowledge that you had done well, or would he know you were just using him as a dumping post?

Better yet, whom do your actions show you respect more: your earthy authorities or your God?  Whom do you spend more time pleasing: your earthly authorities or God? For whom do you sacrifice your interests: your earthly authorities or God?

If your answer is your earthly authorities, remember this, the solution is not to respect your earthly authorities less, it is to respect God more. He is a Father, where is His honour?

You are Not Alone

There is a point of focus in the Christian community today that people are going to persecute you for your actions if you defend God. Due to a desire to remain ignorant of God's wisdom, rebukes tend to fall on deaf ears.

Many Christians have allowed this to discourage them -to convince them that no one cares for God anymore. This is not just a recent phenomena.

In the Bible, Elijah famously begins to follow this same course of discouragement. He feels as if he is all alone and simply requests that the Lord takes his life. His reasoning is explained in 1 Kings 19:10,

"And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."

 Elijah becomes discouraged because he believes that all his service has been for naught. In his eyes, despite his best efforts to revive the spirit of the children of Israel to the Lord, all have now gone and served other gods.

But the Lord corrects him in I Kings 19:18,

"Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him."

Elijah is told that he is not alone. The simple fact is that although many may dispute and punish you for spreading God's wisdom, there is almost always someone looking for it without knowing where he could find it. So continue spreading God's wisdom and know that you are not alone, no matter how you may feel.

Extra-Morality 7: Day of Reflection

What better way to end a series than to show specific steps that all Christians should take about that which we have been discussing? Indeed, that is what we will examine today as we conclude this series. What I want to review is simply what we should do about it. So below we have three applications to our everyday lives.

1. Choose by Faith

What I mean by extra-morality is what many others before me have called Christian liberty. All I'm saying is that there are certain things that the Lord does not specifically forbid in the Bible, and that each Christian must make a decision on these issues based upon Biblical standards. 

The argument I took from Romans 14 (and especially verse 14), was that in these areas, there may not necessarily be a direct right or wrong. What is indicated by the Scriptures here is that each man is responsible with creating his own standards. 

"5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.... 14 I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.... 17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. 18 For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.... 20 For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence.... 23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin."

With this in mind, our responsibility is simple, we must pray about things like what media we should intake, whether dancing is appropriate, and what clothes we should wear. We must make decisions about these areas, not by convenience, but by faith. As Dr. David Jeremiah writes,

"Every believer should make sure their conscience does not condemn them and then act on what they believe, being responsible to make judgments about things that not specifically covered in Scripture. The center of the Christian life is faithfulness and love toward God - whether in obeying Scripture or seeking to apply scriptural principles to."

Now perhaps you would like to argue with the interpretation of Romans 14 that I here advocate.  I admit that I myself have difficulty accepting it, but the more I read this chapter, the more I am convinced that this interpretation is correct.

Regardless, let's just take time to examine whether it matters whether you agree with me on the main issue. You see, all I'm asking for you to do is to specifically pray about areas where the Bible is silent and make a decision based on what would be the best for your relationship with the Lord and others.

I make this case because the standards that are made can vary from person to person and all still be correct. You take offense with that. Great. So let's just say that there is just one correct standard for these extra-moral concerns. How would you best determine that standard?

You would pray about it and make a decision of faith based on how certain things affect your relationships with the Lord and other Christians! Indeed, if you pay close attention to all the action steps I give you today, you will find that they all apply equally as much whether there is one proper extra-moral standard or whether there are multiple ones. So disagree with me if you want, but please consider taking these steps anyway.

2. Attitude towards Other Believers

All Christians are obligated to make decisions on these areas where the Bible is silent by faith and prayer. Now let's just assume that everyone has done that in their lives. This assumption is not just for the sake of this post. No, I think it would be wise in our everyday lives to give all Christians that benefit of the doubt. It is simply not Christ-like to assume that people have erred without having any basis and in this scenario, we will never have basis unless someone directly tells you that they don't have any basis for where they stand.  

But where does that put us? There are bound to be disagreements. And when those disagreements come, the natural reaction is to think that your decisions are far superior to those of your fellow Christians. "Look at him! He really thinks it's necessary to live with those standards! Ha! Where did he get Scripture to support that view?" While your compatriot is over there thinking, "He watches that show! Does he not know that it is soooo worldly?" 

You see, Paul makes it very clear that both sections of beliefs are not without fault in their judgment of the others. Christians start turning against other Christians because they have differing standards. Because they view the Lord's requirements in their lives to be a little bit different. 

The Bible makes it clear that it is not the place or authority of Christians to judge other Christians. Only the Lord is truly able to evaluate the service of us as Christians. So who are we to take his place? As Romans 14 states, 

"4 Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.... 6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.... 9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. 10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. 12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. 13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more."

R.C. Sproul further iterates the argument of Scriptures when he says,

"Frequently in his epistles, the Apostle Paul goes to great lengths to describe what we call Christian liberty. In these matters God allows us freedom; he doesn't set down laws prohibiting something or commanding something. The apostle warns us against being judgmental toward our brothers, giving as an example in the Corinthian community the question about eating meat offered to idols. Paul says this had nothing to do with the kingdom of God. He says, 'Those of you who have scruples about it, don't judge those who don't' and vice versa. This is a case in which we just have to respect one another. In those admonitions, Paul uses as his basis this statement: 'We are not to be judging people for whom Christ died.' He reminds us that 'your brother or your sister belongs to Christ. God has forgiven them. Who are you to withhold forgiveness from someone whom God has forgiven?'"

Now I should clarify here that I am not saying you should just jump into a little box and just ignore the different standards among Christians in the world. Certainly, it cannot be a point of contention, but perhaps it would be necessary to point out real problems in a position. 

You may remember that in the third post of the series, I highlighted the issue of condemnation in our day by linking this blog post. The article disrespectfully slanders fundamentalists based on the actions of a few (unsubstantiated as well, but that's not the point). Compare that tone and respectfulness to this blog post written by Doctor Jeff Ansbaugh, Pastor of Greater Rhode Island Baptist Temple. 

They are both highlighting what they view as problems in the fundamentalist community, but the latter does so with love. What these two articles show us is that we need not sing kumbaya in order to suffice these Scriptural requirements, but our actions need to be guided from love and a mutual respect, and not a holier than thou condemnation. 

As Pastor Jeff Ansbaugh tells us, 

"When I first graduated from Bible college, I did not hold a King James position, and the reason is because I had met too many preachers who were King James nasty. Several years after I was in the ministry, I came upon a very gracious man at an ordination who had a King James position but held it with the right spirit... I asked if I could talk with him about textual matters, and he agreed. He did not put his hands around my throat, but rather put his arm around my shoulders. I changed my position through my talks with him. And that is because he used his position to bring us together rather than wedge us apart. We must believe that compassion is not compromise."

3. Conduct Towards other Believers

Being compassionate in our attitude towards other believers will produce some natural results in our conduct with them. The two things that Romans 14 shares with us to behave appropriately are likely more indicators that we have the proper respect level than anything else. 

Regardless, we do see two main lessons from Romans 14 about how we are to treat other Christians when it comes to extra-moral standards. 

First, we learn to not flaunt our views. This flaunting can go in both directions. 

For instance, one with less strict extra-moral standards can easily flaunt and tempt his brother to err by his standard. This is what Paul would call a stumblingblock in your brother's way. Revisiting the example I used in the fourth post of this series, we find that you are a Doctor Who fan (a giant whovian!) and you are great friends with someone who believes that Christians shouldn't watch that show (or at least that he or she shouldn't). 

It takes great strength to refrain from constantly telling him that he is missing out on so much by upholding his standards so well. But that is the Christian thing to do. 

Then again, the converse can also happen. Your friend who also watches Doctor Who has a similar obligation not to flaunt himself as a better Christians simply because he believes that more is necessary to please the Lord when it comes to extra-moral concerns. 

Romans 14 explains once more, 

"3 Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.... 13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way. 14 I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 15 But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died. 16 Let not then your good be evil spoken of:... 21 It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak. 22 Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. 23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin."

The second lesson that Romans 14 teaches us about the conduct towards other believers is to focus on those things that really matter. You see, as big of a deal as we would like to make these extra-moral concerns, they really aren't the most important issues in our Christian walk with the Lord.

No, what's really important are the issues of righteousness and peace. What we should focus on is the glory of God, instead of the peripheral views on issues of extra-moral concerns. Romans 14 says simply:

"6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. 7 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. 8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.... 17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. 18 For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. 19 Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. 20 For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence."

I dare say that meat is not the only thing that doesn't destroy the work of God! Regardless, I'm sure we can all agree that our ability as Christians to reach the purpose of God's glory and witnessing to the lost are far more important than extra-moral concerns.

In conclusion, let me leave you with some words from Dr. David Jeremiah's commentary on Romans 14,

"God is pleased with the individual Christian because of Christ, not because of his or her views on peripheral matters. Christians are to have the same attitude, striving toward unity, not unnecessary dissension.... The believer's focus should be on the values of the kingdom of God, not worship styles or modes of dress. The Enemy does all he can to drive people toward division. The Spirit drives God's family toward unity."

Extra-Morality 3: Elevating Ourselves to Status of God

This Sunday an article was posted by two of my friends on Facebook. These two friends are largely fundamental, but the article they posted was directing blame at fundamentalism for offenses that are quite frankly not the fault of any movement.

The articles starts out with legitimate problems of sexual abuse and harassment occurring at fundamental colleges. It goes without saying of course that these problems could happen (and do) at any institution, fundamentalist or otherwise.

Yet this article opines that at its core, this problem is somehow the fault of the fundamentalist viewpoint. Specifically, we read,

"Many fundamentalist communities control their members by isolating them and strictly regulating behavior—especially controlling the flow of information from the outside world and between people. Bob Jones University, for example, forbids students from listening to certain music, filters their internet use, and prohibits certain magazine subscriptions. At Pensacola Christian College, students are banned from watching any television or unapproved movies."

These ideas (which embody a large portion of the extra-moral standards we have been discussing in this series) are allegedly creating a spirit of silent submission, where students are afraid to speak out when are hurt. The link is doubtful at best, since it has commonly been known that anyone, regardless of where they attend college, is ashamed to report such incidents. Quite frankly, this article is a textbook example of the correlation vs. causation fallacy. But that is not the point I want to make with this story today.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's real. I am not playing on fear when I tell you that Christians are becoming divided as sections of Christianity condemn the others simply because they have differing extra-moral standards.

Make no mistake, these allegations are major and need to be addressed, but there is no conceivable way in which we can blame them on the extra-moral standards of certain institutions. Fundamentalists do NOT need to be rescued by Christians on the outside, nor do Christians on the outside need to be taught how to love the Lord by fundamentalists.

But maybe you're not convinced. Maybe you can't yet wrap your head around the idea that extra-moral concerns exist that don't impact service to the Lord. It's okay if you struggle with my interpretation of Romans 14:14,

"I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean."

It's okay because regardless of where you stand on this issue, what I say today cannot be denied. Today, we set aside the controversy that I have been discussing to show the flaws in this condemnation with precepts that as far as I know, all Christians accept.

This rebuke was hinted at within my last post as well. There we saw that when we condemn others because of their standards (or for any reason at all) that we are showing the following to be true:

"Somewhere along the way we have become convinced that we are the end all of what standards are acceptable."

To be more frank, when we treat other Christians as reprobates for whatever the reason, we are elevating ourselves to the position of the Lord.

Let us not forget that we are all sinners, that we are all unworthy of the Lord accepting us or our worship. With that in mind, how can we be so quick to condemn others as unworthy because their standards are unfamiliar?

Even if you still believe there is something wrong with the standards some people hold about television, dancing, or similar things, the authority to judge such things rests solely in the hands of the Lord. As Romans 14:10-13 says, 

"But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more."

Indeed, it is not our concern or authority to condemn those around us. The Lord will judge the intentions of his servants in regards to their standards and we can't possibly begin to do so. Yet we try.

In total, we may highlight why we think other Christians have flawed standards, but we must not blame them for all of Christianity's problems, or to treat them as if they don't love the Lord or people enough.

Let's not be so quick to elevate ourselves to the status of God; we must remember that the Lord is He who plans to judge all motives of Christians.

At its core, this problem of division and condemnation in our churches today comes down to a problem of pride, with no side being innocent. We have forgotten our place in the Lord's plan. We have forgotten that we are all simply sinners saved by grace. We have forgotten that we must focus on being acceptable to the Lord ourselves and not on whether others will be accepted. We have decided we can judge our brethren based on their actions, while still remaining humble and acceptable to the Lord.

But we can't. As James 4:10-12 states,

"Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?"

Continue to Extra-Morality 4: Stumblingblock 

In Case You Missed It...

Cue the confetti!! So, this is the fiftieth post on this little blog! I thought I would celebrate by giving a post of some of my best posts. (I swear this has nothing to do with how great this could be at promoting said blog to those who have not read it as a more approachable way of catching up...ok, fine, it has much to do with that.) But don't worry, I hope to make this post interesting for the committed reader as well.

I will examine five posts today. I wanted to include more, but that would make it less approachable to the new reader. Thus, I will not mention "The Story of Achan: Patience in the Lord," "Why Reading the Bible Makes Me More Libertarian," "Bastiat's Conundrum: Communication is Key to Engaging Society," or "Apologetics Series 7: Day of Rest/Reflection." These were some of the others in the running for today's best posts.

But before I do the countdown, I thought it would be beneficial to share a little bit about why this very blog exists in the first place.

The Beginning

As hopefully a lot of you know, this is not the first website I have run. I started out running a website called Human Scavengers, which highlighted the fact that certain companies were using aborted fetal cells in the manufacturing of their products. Due to no part of my efforts, this problem has largely become mute. But it doesn't matter that I was unsuccessful as long as the Lord found someone to be, right? 

My first post, "When Government is the Answer" was originally written for the Human Scavengers website. Several members of my family informed me that I should start writing more blog posts for the site. 

I thought about it and I saw the logic behind such a move. Without going to a college campus this year, I would not be getting much opportunity to write essays. I did not want to lose this skill set because of a lack of practice. Thus, I thought about writing more regularly on my Human Scavengers blog. However, there wasn't enough to say about this topic to keep a blog going. Thus, I started this blog with a broader purpose of teaching Biblical teachings about life, politics, and philosophy. 

And that, my friends, is why we are here: to allow me to collect my thoughts and keep my writing in practice. I'm glad you've come along for the ride, and I hope you have enjoyed it. 

5. It Pleased The Lord

As I say in the post, this post is not for the faint of heart. It was definitely the most  distressing and emotional post I have written for this post. My intention with the post was simple enough. I had found from the teachings of one of my Sunday School teachers (10th grade) that when you heard all that transpired on the cross, it was convicting. I knew this had convicted me, and I expected it would do the same to others. Thus, all I wanted to do was show the torture that occurred, and let God take care of the rest. Writing about the torture was still no easy task as you know, it's torture. Even when I read it now, tears threaten to release themselves. I need to remind myself of the contents of this post often as I go through my life.

4. Love Is Deeper than Chocolate

A much more mild depiction of the sacrifice Jesus made and what that means to us. This is a very simple and straightforward piece. In fact, it took two people commenting on how they liked it for me to understand that it actually held more power in it than I first thought. This truly has nothing to do with me.

You see, when I wrote this post, I was a little sad that I had decided to follow the mold of actually talking about a holiday in posts as the holiday came by. Thus, I started with a lot of odd jokes. I had no intention of using those jokes as a specific avenue of discussion of something deeper, but the Lord allowed me to write a transition that made everything seem so purposeful. It really is quite dramatic and makes for one interesting post with a nice hook and follow through.

3. Ignorance isn't Bliss, It's Carlisle

This is the pride and joy of my political posts. Some may have better analysis; others better communication, but this one expresses a topic that we all need to hear. It is a call to all Christians to stay informed on politics and educate themselves on what proper political philosophy is. If there is one post that illustrates what the purpose of my politics posts is in general, it is this one.

Did I mention it discusses Doctor Who? You know that makes it absolutely fantastic in and of itself. This truly was the hook that I would hope would bring more people into reading this post and then be trapped into feeling guilty for their apathy! Mwahahahaha!

More seriously, we as Christians need to be more interested in what goes on in the world because at any moment, we could lose our religious freedom. That would make witnessing opportunities more scarce. While it is certainly true that God could work through such a situation as well as any other, we cannot look to God to bail us out when we don't fulfill our obligations to be educated citizens of the populace and fight for the Lord in politics as much as we do in other areas of life.

2. Micah and His Levite: Progression of Idolatry

The most recent post on this here list is also one of the best organized. Although I typically just write out what I wish to say as if I was in a middle of a conversation (my outlining skills therefore might be the ones I still lose despite this blog), this one had a more specific structure (some posts in the Apologetics series also required such structure).

This post explores a problem many people in the Christian walk have, including me myself. They decide they will serve the Lord with their own devices. The story of Micah from Judges 17-18 provides an intriguing study into how in order to serve God, we have to die to ourselves completely. Yes, it sounds generic, but trust me, it is worth your time.

1. Joseph, Levites, and Vows: God's Will for My Life

The top two blog posts do indeed both have the name, "Levite" in them. Thanks for noticing. 

This is a complete coincidence, I can assure you. 

The weakness of the title in general doesn't change the fact this was a difficult post to decide to write. Once the decision was made, it flowed relatively smoothly (except I kept getting ahead of myself). 

This is the most important post I have ever written with information about my personal walk with the Lord taken from my Sermon Notes Journal, my Sermon Preparation Journal, and my Devotional Journal (I keep a lot of journals). Unlike most devotional posts, it doesn't leave you with some convicting message because it is about me answering to a conviction more than anything else. It really was a wonderful blessing to share what the Lord was doing in my life with my readers.

Micah and his Levite: The Progression of Idolatry

In Judges 17, we hear of a man from Mount Ephraim who is known as Micah. The very first thing we learn of Micah is that he has stolen eleven hundred shekels of silver from his mother, but that he for whatever reason (I speculate guilt) did nothing with this silver and ultimately restores it to his mother. 

His mother's response is a bit odd. Instead of rebuking him for stealing it, she asks that he be blessed of the Lord. However, the real oddness of her response is what she said after that. In Judges 17:3-5, we learn, 

"And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the Lord from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee. Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah. And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest."

Wait, what? In some of the first commandments that the Lord gives the Israelites after their exodus from Egypt, he tells them,

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth."

Now Micah and his mother are trying to serve God by disobeying Him?  This is nonsensical, but before we judge too hard, let us remember that we do similar things. Although we may not violate specific written commands, we still try to serve the Lord based on our desires and not those of the Lord. 

We may reject specifically what the Lord desires for our life and still try to serve the Lord by living our own will for our life. Sure, we aren't violating the Ten Commandments in this instance, but we are still disobeying God when we refuse to listen to his calling in our life. 

So you see, Micah is guilty of a sin that plagues many Christians. They decide that they can ignore God's will for their lives and still serve the Lord. 

I myself had this tendency when the Lord was calling me to the ministry. I wanted to reject this idea and still serve God as an economist, a lawyer or something related to those interests. But we all know that never would have worked. 

Indeed if we follow the rest of Micah's story, we will see how well he is able to serve God by disobeying his commandments. 

Micah is not ignorant of the law, and he is trying hard to do right by it. However, he is still holding onto his idea that the idols he has made can be used in this purpose. But he knows that his sons are not adequate priests to the Lord. The Lord did after all consecrate the Levites to serve Him.

Thus, when the opportunity presents itself, Micah hires himself a Levite to be the priest of his household at ten shekels of silver a year. At this point, Micah thinks that his use of a Levite as a priest redeems his sins of the graven images. His worship he thinks should now be acceptable unto the Lord. Judges 17:13 proclaims, 

"Then said Micah, Now know I that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest."

The fact that the Levite accepted this arrangement indicates many flaws in his character unbecoming of a religious leader, but alas, that is not the focus of this post.

Micah incorrectly believes that adding in certain elements of God's plan of worship will eliminate all the evil he has done while serving the Lord. But the sin he has committed is still incompatible with the will of God and simply having a Levite is not enough to redeem him.

Similarly, if we have disobeyed in our service to the Lord, we can't redeem ourselves by doing anything but changing course to obedience. If we have neglected God, we cannot hope to serve Him until we approach Him.

This disobedience eventually means that we no longer even hold an illusion of serving God. In Judges 18, we continue to hear of Micah and his idols. Here the tribe of Dan "buys out" the Levite's service and steals the images that Micah has made.

When Micah learns of this, he does what we would expect. He gathers as many people together to fight to bring his items back. He confronts the children of Dan, asking why they have stolen his images. But he does not say they have stolen his instruments for serving the Lord. No, he has given up on that illusion. The Danites have stolen "his gods." Micah's rebuke in Judges 18:24 dictates,

"And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away: and what have I more?"

My gods? It is not surprising to any of us when we see this in Micah. He started out just trying to serve the Lord with his own devices, but ended up serving the works of his own hands. Yet when the same thing happens in our own lives, we are shocked. We don't understand how our good intentions didn't pan out into effective service of the Lord.

But as we see through Micah, it's not just about our intentions. We may intend to serve the Lord, but are we willing to leave aside our desires and serve the Lord by his standards? Micah was unable to, and thus, he found himself serving false gods. We must put aside all our own plans for our life if we wish to serve the Lord and not just serve ourselves. We can't try to mix the two. "No man can serve two masters." We must, as Joshua proclaimed,

"Choose you this day whom ye will serve... but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."