It is not the doctrine of justification that does my heart good, it is Christ, the justifier. —C.H. Spurgeon
The Curious Case of Psalm 37:3
“Ordinarily, the context will be sufficient to determine which of the two verbs is intended. But in Psalm 37:3, the context is sufficiently vague that it is not clear at first which verb might be intended.”
New Life in an Old Prayer?
J. C. Ryle commented: “Thousands who never read Bibles are familiar with it. It is often the first prayer that children learn. Yet it contains the germ of everything which the most advanced saint can desire. Happy would it be for the world if this prayer was as well known in the spirit as it is in the letter.”
Why Clergy Get Kicked Out
“Southern Baptists, who have been tracking this for over 15 years, show that 4 of the 5 top reasons clergy are let go is related to the leadership style of the pastor. Too strong a style is cited twice as often as too weak a style. But one thing that is consistent no matter the style is poor people skills.”
Recovering the Family Dinner Table
“In our lives we tend to ignore important things to focus on urgent things. Practice, homework, and squeezing in an extra thirty minutes at work feel urgent. It seems as if these things must be done and they must be done now. Taking the time to share a meal together does not invoke the kind of urgency other tasks do, but its importance cannot be overstated.”
Atheists Anonymous
“We might like to view ourselves as gods. We might like to reason we have no divine law to keep. It might make us happy to conclude we have no one to whom we must answer for our conduct. However, this is but a mere rebellious, human fantasy. There is one God.”
“Whoever Would Save His Life Will Lose It” — A Charge for Graduates
“Jesus is not looking for mere believers, though belief is the first command. Christ has called for those who believe in him to serve him and follow him and obey him — even to take up our own cross as his disciples.”
Where Sometimes Is Heard a Realistic Word
“I tend not to find Catholic political thinking especially helpful for guiding us through the most fundamental problems of our time. One of those problems is how to conceive of a society that no longer shares a common culture — that’s “centerless,” as I’ve sometimes put it in my writing. Catholic thought always seems to presume that political communities are unified moral wholes.”
The “Nones” and the “Buts”
“The use of the category of “Nones” in surveys pertaining to religion should be replaced with “Buts”—that is a category for those who will say something like “I am Catholic, but…” The results of such surveys would be much more enlightening.”
Upholding Polity out of Christian Love
On the Lord’s Day when our congregation celebrates the Lord’s Supper, we read the following statement:
The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper or “communion” is a blessed privilege given by Christ to the people of His Church, for those who have a saving interest in His body and blood. It is not intended for those outside the faith. We believe the sharing of the bread and cup is intended for believers who are walking in obedience to Christ. That is, those who have testified of their faith, been baptized and joined themselves to and are in good standing in a Bible-believing church. To eat of the bread and drink the cup inappropriately incurs God’s judgment (1Cor. 11:29.) If you are unsure as to whether you should partake it would be best to abstain.
In past eras of church history, Christians understood this to be a wise and necessary practice. It was called “fencing the table,” purposefully excluding from the Lord’s Supper those who made a profession of Christian faith that lacked credibility. In other words, people who professed faith in Christ but who’d not yet followed the authoritative pattern of repentance and faith that Christ Himself has given His disciples in the New Testament.
Just Ask Cain and Abel.
by Christopher Ames
Then ask Aaron and the members of the congregation who were on hand for the Golden Calf episode. Ask Nadab and Abihu. Ask Hophni and Phineas. Consult the whole litany of kings of Israel and Judah whose faithfulness was judged in part on how they handled the idol groves and high places. Ask Isaiah whether it was an arbitrary decision to fall on his face in the presence of the Enthroned One rather than jump up and down like an idiot. Then ask Jesus why He cleansed the Temple twice. Ask Paul what the big deal was about “will-worship” in the church of Colossae. Finally, ask John the Beloved whether, in the age of grace, it ought to be at all instructive to the reader that he fell on his face in the presence of the risen Christ rather than jump up and down like an idiot.
Then read this article and ask yourself: are we talking about the same religion?
Relevant Magazine | The Worship Wars Are Hurting the Church
Christian Pastors and Leaders – Exchanging the Word of God for a “New” Way of Doing Things
by David Dombrowski, 4/13/15 LT Publishing
The church of today is very much astir. Everywhere we turn, embellishments are being added to Christianity as if to improve it. The old ways do not seem to satisfy anymore. A great influx of new teachings and practices have exchanged the God of old as depicted in the pages of the Bible with a deity much more palatable to the post-modern mind. Brennan Manning illustrates this when he stated in one of his books, ” . . . the god who exacts the last drop of blood from His Son, so that His just anger, evoked by sin, may be appeased is not the God revealed by and in Jesus Christ. And if he is not the God of Jesus, he does not exist.” This “progressive” contemplative/emerging church has gone so far as to place in pulpits men who blaspheme God and who deny the atonement. But let us step back for a moment to see how emerging thought has developed. Such a statement did not come out of the blue, but as Ray Yungen suggests, a “creeping” effect made it all possible.
Click here to read this article!
Mennonites Walk Ruth Haley Barton’s Mystical Bridge
by Lighthouse Trails, 4/15/15 LT Publishing
Ruth Haley Barton, founder of The Transforming Centre[1], was trained at the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation which teaches: “This mystical stream [contemplative prayer] is the Western bridge to Far Eastern spirituality … It is no accident that the most active frontier between Christian and Eastern religions today is between contemplative Christian monks and their Eastern equivalents.” -Tilden Edwards, Shalem Founder[2] Barton, who could not find peace or direction in her Baptist roots or through reading the Bible and praying, found fulfillment through spiritual direction. Now she incorporates a blend of Eastern and Roman Catholic contemplative spirituality and monastic practices in her retreats and books on practicing the presence of God in the silence and sacred rhythms of prayer. Lately she has been very instrumental in leading entire Protestant and Anabaptist church congregations and their leaders into these same practices through spiritual direction and discernment seminars.This year, the Mennonites have once again[3] brought in Ruth Haley Barton to help them make decisions in the silence regarding some very important upcoming issues that include LGBTQ and anti-Israel BDS resolutions. How tragic to see an entire church delegation over looking all that is necessary in their discernment process (the Bible), thereby shunning to declare the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27) in seeking guidance from an apprentice of Thomas Merton and Tilden Edwards.
Click here to read this article!
God’s Not Done With the Jewish People
Originally published by Gary H. Kah and shared with permission: It’s no secret. The President of the United States, Barack Obama, despises Israel. But what is even more apparent is his hatred for Israel’s leader, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. We now know that Obama did everything possible behind the scenes to sabotage Netanyahu’s recent re-election. […]
Gary Kah one world religion
The Bible tells us that there will come a day when we will have just one religion, united together in common ground. But it also tells us that this will be a false religion, and that many Christians will be deceived into following its leaders and its doctrines. Along with this great deception will be […]
Clueless Christians and Abortion
by Bill Muehlenberg
Whether clueless, wilfully ignorant or deceived, or simply wolves in sheep’s clothing, I continue to be amazed by the number of people who claim to be Christians yet simply parrot all the usual discredited arguments for abortion. It bothers me greatly that those claiming to be followers of Jesus can get it so very wrong on something so important as the sanctity of human life.
I am constantly debating these folks, and find their ignorance or inability to think morally and logically to be quite shocking. All they have done is picked up what the world has to say about abortion, and think they are somehow being good Christians.
The New Totalitarians
If you think the era of totalitarianism is over, you haven’t been paying attention to the headlines.
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Feel the Love Tonight? Rick Warren, Elton John Hold Hands, Joke About Kissing Before AIDS Panel
By Heather Clark Christian News Network WASHINGTON — Controversial megachurch leader and author Rick Warren raised concerns Wednesday after joining hands with homosexual singer Elton John during a speech before a congressional hearing on AIDS funding, and joked what would happen if the two kissed.
Why Christianity rather than Judaism or Islam?
http://www.reasonablefaith.org/why-christianity-rather-than-judaism-or-islam
Lutheran pastor on Beth Moore: “She’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing trying to destroy my flock”
For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Jude 1:4)
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. (2 Peter 2:1-3)
Even if the pastor himself is solid and would never think to quote a Beth Moore or a Sarah Young, these false teachers enter the church by other means. Pastor Murphy said he was sorry for not having provided enough oversight in the aforementioned areas, and said the tentacles of satan had so far reached far and deep. He went on a mission to overhaul all the aforementioned areas. In addition, he promised to name names in warning his flock away from certain teachers who have shown by their fruit they are dangerous.
Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. (Matthew 7:15-16a)
Many of us who listened to Pastor Murphy’s online sermon applauded it and were thrilled to see one faithful shepherd executing the biblical command to guard the sheep. (Acts 20:28-31)
Additionally, we know that there are other pastors out there doing the same, even when we can’t see or hear them. We trust the Lord who has raised up faithful shepherds to empower them with discernment, courage, and fortitude to withstand the tsunami of falsity attempting to sweep into the church and to speak against it. We can’t see them, but we know they’re there and doing it. We live by faith, not by sight, knowing that doctrinal protection by good under-shepherds is occurring. (2 Corinthians 5:7)
But it is still thrilling to see when it happens, it’s a visible demonstration of the Goodness of the Holy Spirit.
Well, here is another example. Also in 2012, a Lutheran named Chris Hull, who is Senior Pastor of Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church in Normal, Illinois, was interviewed on a Lutheran radio show called Issues Etc. He noticed several of the ladies of his flock were doing Beth Moore studies, so he set about researching what they were consuming. He was aghast at his findings.
To Beth Moore, Jesus is more sympathizer than Savior. ~Pastor Chris HullHis talk is linked here, and below is posted a lengthy excerpted transcript of his interview. There are a few things he speaks of through the lens of being Lutheran that I do not agree with, for example, the sacraments being more than representational, and of being their ‘father’, but despite these few things, his opposition to Moore is worth a read. He takes it from a theological point of view, speaking of the false things Moore teaches that I haven’t heard before, or at least, in my opinion speaks of them in such a way as to bring new light on why Moore is false. It’s a new perspective, even though this interview is surfacing now (thanks to an eagle eyed and thoughtful reader who sent it to me).
In this essay, I’m showing you three things. First, the different perspective that the pastor brings to the table regarding Moore’s theology. Second, if you read the excerpts below or better yet, listen to the half-hour interview linked above, you will see HOW the pastor went about assessing Moore’s theology and how he considered whether she was good for his flock. Third, once he came to his conclusions, note the kind of language he uses to definitively state them. He didn’t apologize, back-pedal, or waver when explaining exactly what the problem was. Too many teachers, pastors etc seem almost apologetic when saying that so-and-so is a false teacher. Many hesitate to say even that, claiming that gentleness, caution, and tolerance are called for.
I say no.
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| “Guilty Spirit” EPrata collage w/digital overlay |
If a person, by their fruit and/or lifestyle has demonstrated that they are false, we are beyond caution and tolerance. We are at war with the false teaching they bring! If they have proven themselves false (and Moore certainly has) it means they are against Jesus and operating for satan. It means they are out for your destruction. It means they are a liar, seeking filthy lucre. We don’t have to be mean, but we need to be clear! We do NOT need to say, “Well, gee, in some ways this teacher has helped me, and I don’t agree with everything they say, but…” No, sir. Paul was clear:
So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. (2 Cor 11:15)
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:8)
Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works. (2 John 1:11)
See the Apostle of Love calling false teachers wicked, as not having God in them, and for believers to refuse them hospitality! Therefore note the clarity and conciseness with which Pastor Hull expresses his findings. You definitely know where he stands. He stands with Jesus. He guards His flock.
Here are excerpts from Pastor Chris Hull’s interview on Issues, Etc. regarding Beth Moore.
Q. What role does Jesus play in Beth Moore’s Theology?
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| Pastor Hull |
Pr. Hull: I’d say it’s mainly example. Christ is our example. Lutherans have fought that mindset for many years, this ‘what would Jesus DO mentality.’ Worse, and I hate to say this because it sounds silly, but to her, Jesus is more of a lover, even. He’s the man who understands me. He’s the man who gets me. No other man in my life gets me, but Jesus does. That’s a big problem. Yes, He does get us all, because He died for us. So I would agree with her there, yes He gets you. But He gets you because He takes your sin upon Himself and dies your death. But she never gets to that point. It’s more of a ‘He’s there for me in my need.’ It’s a very abstract ‘there’. He’s never there in concreteness in the means of grace, but rather, just there. Like a spiritual life coach giving me a pat on the back when I need it. And that’s Jesus in her book. Jesus is more sympathizer than savior. … It’s very, very shallow spirituality.
What you get with Beth Moore’s bible studies is emotionalism. You know, getting into how I feel and things of that nature. Her main appeal to women in her studies is getting into the mind-set of people in the bible. For example, in her study, “Jesus the one and only”, she gets into: How did Mary feel? or what was Joseph thinking? There is no actual theology here, it is all, what do I think they were feeling and does that relate to my feelings today. The best part is, she will quote like 20 bible verses, that have nothing to do with that actual passage in scripture in order to support your emotion, she is using the bible to tell you the feelings you have are natural and good and you should feel comforted in that, and therefore powerful. It’s all about God respects you, that is one of the main appeals to women is that God respects them in their feelings, in their stage in life.
Q. How would you summarize her message?
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| Beth Moore |
Pr. Hull: A typical evangelical one of free will. She is a lazy Arminian, who says that our greatest gift God gives us is our free will to choose Him. How can that comfort people? If that’s the gift God gives us is free will, saying and you have to get into the bible to read more of the bible, and the more you read the bible the more you will know about God and the more you know about God, the more God will love you. And then, once God loves you He will respect you as a human being.
Her bible studies are mostly prose, not much doctrine, a lot of fill-in-the blanks type of questions. Here’s a question, read this one bible verse, and fill in the blank. It’s like reading a Dan Brown novel the Da Vinci Code, you feel smart after because it’s short chapters.
Q. What view of man in his fallen state does Beth Moore promote in her popular books and bible studies?
Pr. Hull: Her view of man is that man has problems, man is sinful but only because of what he does. You’re born in a state of neutrality, like Adam (she doesn’t knock Eve as much) and will I take the forbidden fruit or will I do good? This is the Christian life a neutral state and which one will I choose. It’s Arminian theology. If I choose good, God will be pleased. You see this especially in her books. There is this one book about getting out of the ditches, how do I get out of despair, and you don’t see things like “From depths of woe I cried to Thee“, you see ‘What can I do to get out of this problem in life.’
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| Expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden, Masaccio, 1426-7 |
My wife went to one of the bible studies and she walked out saying ‘I had no comfort in the Gospel. It was all about what I need to do.’ She made the comment that if someone with clinical depression came in they’d probably want to go home and do something to themselves. Because it is just depressing to read, it gives no hope in Christ Jesus. Whatsoever.
[A clip is played with Moore emphasizing self-improvement, using the phrase “we are God’s masterpiece” and emphasizing change in terms of self-improvement].
Pr. Hull: Self-improvement is contrary to scripture. Romans 6 talks about that. We died with Christ so we shall also rise with Christ. You must die in this world. How can you progress in self-improvement if the point of the faith is to actually die to self? Beth Moore takes scripture out of the equation and replaces it with emotion and human reason.
Q.: Beth Moore had a little foothold on the congregation you currently serve when you arrived as its new pastor, how deep did it drive you into researching what Beth Moore believes and teaches?
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| Don’t believe the propaganda! |
Pr. Hull: They did 2 Beth Moore studies the first year I was here, so I read both of those. I read 4 of her books, I watched a bunch of her Youtube videos…I spent way too much time with Beth Moore. But the problem is, and I guess I can say this on the radio: she is a wolf in sheep’s clothing trying to destroy my flock. The only way I could get her out was knowing her. Knowing her abilities, knowing how she gets in and twists. And I learned it.
But getting rid of it was the problem. Because Beth Moore becomes a friend with the church, she becomes good friends with people. How do you get rid of a friend? You have to say this ‘friend’ is no good for you. This friend wants to hurt you. This friend desires your death. She wants to give you this poisonous loaf of bread covered in sugar and tell you it’s good for you. And all it’s going to do is kill you over time and you won’t even recognize it…the problem is to compassionately say to your blessed flock that not only will this harm you, but it will be your end if you continue to place trust in this propaganda.
All Beth Moore Critiques Here in One Place
Beth Moore Confronts Young Pastor’s Wife for Criticizing Her Direct, Divine Revelation
Letter to the Editor: Devastated in the Bible Belt Over Churches and Pastors Lack of Discernment—And Charisma Magazine’s Blatant Promotion of Emergent/Contemplative
Dear Lighthouse Trails: I wanted to thank you for your tremendously exhaustive efforts to uncover the dangerous deception happening in and to the Church. I was all too aware of the New Age movement, having been seduced into it through massage school, persuaded by my very New Age instructors that it was completely cohesive with […]
Letter to the Editor: Oprah Winfrey Becomes Stanford University’s “Office of Religious Life’s 2015 Rathburn Visiting Fellow”
To Lighthouse Trails: I’m writing this because of Oprah Winfrey’s influence in areas most Christians would never suspect: in the top universities in the U.S. Oprah agreed to be Stanford University’s Office of Religious Life’s “2015 Rathburn Visiting Fellow.” See link: …
What Does God Say About Pride?
Pride is a heart-attitude sin that overflows into a person’s motivation, decision-making, and activities. Pride is at the root of nearly every problem we struggle with in counseling!
Expository Preaching: Cheating & Easy?
At least that is what Andy Stanley said in a recent interview
when asked what he thought about preaching verse by verse through books of the Bible.
When Trials Steal Your Joy
The date was June 20, 2013. My doctor gave me a diagnosis I did not want to hear. I thought autoimmune diseases only affected obscure, sickly people. Suddenly, I was that person. I couldn’t quite wrap my mind around it. My doctor said I could go into remission, stay the same, or, worst case scenario, die. But no one could predict the outcome.
Christians will experience trials, yes, but this is not the end of the story.
From Serving Others to Serving Self
Like the earth itself, we can identify tectonic shifts in cultures too. And when they shift, they can leave quite a trail of destruction.
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5 Things We Believe about Hell That are Not in the Bible
What The Avengers Gets Wrong about God
8 Little Ways to Remind Yourself to Love with Integrity
Blogs
Nancy Leigh DeMoss announces her engagement to Robert Wolgemuth
This is really great news.
Why the missional movement will die in the next five years
Matt Adair:
Several years ago, Mike Breen predicted that the missional movement would fail because it is a mission devoid of discipleship. I wholeheartedly agree. We have disconnected our life for God from our life with God.
But there’s another reason why the missional movement will fail. The people in your church do not care about the missional movement. Look, I know you’ve preached on missional living and wired your small groups to reach your city. And my guess is that you have some pretty cool stories about ways your church has served the city. You very well might have seen a person here or there come to faith in Christ.
9 Stupid Things I Did as a Pastor
Thom Rainer:
I served as pastor of four churches. It was only by the grace of God and the graciousness of the congregations that I was called and allowed to stay at those churches. I absolutely love the members of those four congregations, and I will forever be grateful to them and for them.
Frankly, I’m not sure I would give myself a passing grade as a pastor. I messed up quite a bit. I would do several things differently today. And as a point of full disclosure, my list of nine is not close to being exhaustive.
7 Truths About Hell
JD Greear:
Concerning hell, C. S. Lewis once wrote, “There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this, if it lay in my power.” In many ways, I agree with him. No one, Christians included, should like the idea of hell. Those of us who believe in hell aren’t sadists who enjoy the idea of eternal suffering. In fact, the thought of people I know who are outside of Christ spending eternity in hell is heartbreaking. As a young Christian, when I began to learn about hell and its implications, I almost lost my faith. It was that disturbing.
Hell is a difficult reality, but it is something that the Bible teaches, and we can’t fully understand God and his world unless we grapple with it. These seven truths should frame our discussion of hell.
New research on the landscape of Christianity in America
The short version: mainline denominations and Roman Catholics are in substantial decline. Unaffiliateds are rising sharply. Evangelicals are holding more-or-less stable.
There Is No Pointless Suffering
Randy Alcorn:
As a child, before my mom baked a cake, she’d lay the ingredients on the kitchen counter. One day I tasted each ingredient. Flour. Baking soda. Raw eggs. Vanilla extract. I discovered almost everything that goes into a cake tastes terrible. But a delicious metamorphosis took place when my mother skillfully mixed the ingredients in just the right amounts and baked them at the perfect temperature. The final product was great!
Similarly, the individual ingredients of trials and apparent tragedies taste bitter to us. No translation of Romans 8:28 says “each thing by itself is good,” but “all things work togetherfor good,” and not on their own, but under God’s sovereign hand. I needn’t say, “It’s good,” if my house burns down, I’m robbed and beaten, or my child dies. But God, in His wisdom, measures and mixes our circumstances, then regulates the heat in order to produce something wonderful—Christlikeness—for his glory and our ultimate joy.
Did Jesus become a Sinner on the Cross? (Reprise)
Did Jesus become the literal embodiment of sin, or take on a sin nature, or become a sinner when He died at Calvary? I was asked a variation of that question some time ago, which prompted the response in today’s post.
The heart of the question centers on Paul’s statement in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
In what sense did Jesus become “sin on our behalf”? Does that phrase mean that Jesus literally became a sinner on the cross?
There are some today who teach that Jesus became a sinner (or took on a sin nature) at the cross. Benny Hinn is one such advocate. In a TBN broadcast, Hinn exclaimed:
“He [Jesus] who is righteous by choice said, ‘The only way I can stop sin is by me becoming it. I can’t just stop it by letting it touch me; I and it must become one.’ Hear this! He who is the nature of God became the nature of Satan when he became sin!” (Benny Hinn, Trinity Broadcasting Network, December 1, 1990)
Prosperity-preacher Kenneth Copeland echoes those same teachings. In Copeland’s words:
“The righteousness of God was made to be sin. He accepted the sin nature of Satan in His own spirit. And at the moment that He did so, He cried, ‘My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ You don’t know what happened at the cross. Why do you think Moses, upon instruction of God, raised the serpent upon that pole instead of a lamb? That used to bug me. I said, ‘Why in the world would you want to put a snake up there; the sign of Satan? Why didn’t you put a lamb on that pole?’ And the Lord said, ‘Because it was a sign of Satan that was hanging on the cross.’ He said, ‘I accepted, in my own spirit, spiritual death; and the light was turned off.’” (Kenneth Copeland, “What Happened from the Cross to the Throne,” 1990, audiotape #02-0017, side 2)
On another occasion, Copeland reiterates that same teaching:
“How did Jesus then on the cross say, ‘My God’? Because God was not His Father any more. He took upon Himself the nature of Satan.” (Kenneth Copeland, “Believer’s Voice of Victory,” Trinity Broadcasting Network, April 21, 1991)
But do assertions like these accurately reflect Paul’s teaching that “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf”?
To come back to the original question: “Did Jesus become the literal embodiment of sin, or take on a sin nature, or become a sinner when He died at Calvary?” My answer to that question is a resounding no.
Here are five reasons why:
God loves you? No … God LIKES You
Recently I wrote a post on the All About Eve blog that the theological invitation “Believe in Jesus for eternal life” is more concretely summed up with the statement “God loves you.”
I wrote that many people have trouble understanding what it means to believe in Jesus for eternal life. And while this invitation is referred to over and over in the Gospel of John (e.g., John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47), this offer of eternal life is often equated with the fact and foundation of God’s love for humanity.
So I believe that if we really understand God’s love for us, we will have also understood that He gives us eternal life freely through Jesus Christ.
Therefore, when someone says, “I don’t know if I have believed enough, or believed the right thing,” one way to help people sort through this is to ask if they know that God loves them.
And I mean REALLY loves them. No conditions. No limits. No ifs, ands, or buts.
This sort of understanding of God’s love is so radical, it revolutionizes everything we think about God, Scripture, ourselves, and the church.
Understanding that God loves you infinitely and completely no matter what you have done in the past or what you do in the future, whether you change or not, this is equivalent to understanding that God gives you eternal life freely by His grace.
This sort of teaching about love is what grants people freedom from sin, freedom from religion, and freedom from fear.
I have previously written about this on numerous posts in numerous ways.
But here’s the thing that I have come to realize in the last couple of days:
The church has bastardized the biblical concept of love. ⇦ Tweet that!
I doubt you could find a church in the world which does not preach the message that “God loves you.” But so few churches and Christians actually understand it or believe it.
Yet rather than try to fight this misunderstanding about love, I think might be best to start saying something else instead.
Rather than saying “God loves you” to people, maybe we should start saying “God likes you.” ⇦ Tweet that!
Yes, yes, I know. “Like” is a much weaker word than “love.” But there are countless millions of people who would agree in a second that God loves them, but who do not for a second believe that God likes them.
To understand what I’m talking about, let’s back up a bit. In Christian circles, it is not uncommon to hear someone say this: “I love my neighbor … but I don’t like them.” Or maybe instead of your neighbor, you have said this about an in-law, the church gossip, or a rude deacon.
When we say we love someone but don’t like them, we mean this: “I love them (because I know I am supposed to), but I don’t want to hang out with them or be their friend.”
This sort of idea is often preached in our pulpits as well. Again, you will sometimes hear pastors say this: “As Christians, we are supposed to love everybody, just as God loves us. But even though you love them, you don’t have to like everything about them. Remember, we love the sinner and hate the sin!”
Do you see? We have this attitude toward others because we think this is God’s attitude toward us. We think God loves us, but doesn’t really like us. At least, He doesn’t like us the way we are now. He likes some future version of us where we have cleaned up our lives, gotten rid of sin, read our Bibles and pray more faithfully, and witnesses regularly to our friends and neighbors. That future “fixed” person is the one God wants to be friends with and hang out with; not the “broken” and sinful person we are now.
So you see? Though we believe God loves us, we don’t really think He likes us.
But here is the Gospel truth as revealed in Jesus Christ: GOD LIKES YOU! ⇦ Tweet that!
Let me bring this down to earth a little bit more.
Think of a famous author, actor, or musician you would love to be friends with.
For me, I think of people like N. T. Wright, Brad Paisley, and Keanu Reeves. I think it would be awesome to be best friends with these guys. You know … to have such a good friendship that it became informal … that they just drop by my house to see what’s going on, and I could do the same for them. It would be assumed that we watch football together on Monday nights. That when we went camping, we would invite the other along. That if we just wanted to chat about life and theology, we would call up the other person first.
Do you have someone in mind who is like that? Someone you would love to get to know, hang out with, and have “inside jokes” with?
Usually, when we think about God, we tend to put God in the place of these famous people we want to know. We think, “It would be so cool if God and I were on a first-name basis. If I could call God any time I wanted. If we could hang out like best friends.”
But here is the actual truth: When God thinks about you, He thinks about you the way you think about the famous people you want to know. The way I think about being friends with N. T. Wright, Brad Paisley, and Keanu Reeves, that is how God thinks about me.
God likes me so much, He dreams about being on a first-name basis with me! He dreams about hanging out with me to watch a football game. He dreams about just showing up at my house with no other purpose than to say, “What’s happening?”
And this is the same way God feels about you.
More than anything else, He wants to hang out with you. He wants to be your friend. You are the famous person He would “name drop” to all the angels when He talks about what He did over the weekend. More than anything, God wants to be on a first-name basis with you. He wants to be the one you think of calling when things are going great, and the one you call when things are going bad.
God likes you so much, He wants to even hang out with you when you are weeding your garden, filling your car with gas, and running errands to Sears.
And best of all, God likes you just as you are. He doesn’t want to be friends with some “better and improved” version of you. He wants to be friends with you … as you are right now.
God likes YOU.
This is the truth about God that many people do not believe and cannot accept. They cannot believe that the God of the universe is so madly in love with them, so infatuated with them, so in awe of who they are and what they like and the sorts of things they do, that He would “like” every single one of your Facebook posts, would “Favorite” every single Tweet, and would “Repin” every single picture on Pinterest.
God is your biggest fan, and He dreams of just being in your presence. ⇦ Tweet that!
God likes you.
This is the Gospel message. This is what Jesus came to reveal.
Do you believe this?
The post God loves you? No … God LIKES You appeared first on Redeeming God.
Blogs
What’s the Point of a Professor? – NYTimes.com
Reflections on 40 years in theological education « School of Christian Thought
The One Sure Mark of Christian Maturity | Challies Dot Com
The mother of an aborted child speaks-out | Denny Burk
The death of prayer meetings – Reformation21 Blog
If You See Something, Say Something | Christianity Today
Ministerial Friendships and Longevity | The Christward Collective
Will the American Church Be a New Smyrna? – Reformation21 Blog
How Same-Sex Marriage Threatens Christian Schools | TGC | The Gospel Coalition
Christian schools to lose tax-exempt status over gay marriage | Denny Burk
The Daily Discovery (May 12, 2015)
Good News for Your Kids – “There’s only one remedy for a child’s inborn depravity: The new birth. Regeneration. As Jesus said to Nicodemus, ‘That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. . . . [Therefore,] you must be born again’ (John 3:6–7).”
Six Lies Grads Will Be Told – “It’s graduation season. And as such, scores of graduating students and their doting family and friends will be exposed to the senseless drivel known as a graduation speech. This speech is supposed to prepare the students to face the real world—or perhaps the “real world” of going to college. One last shot at making something out of these thugs.”
Don’t believe gay-friendly version of Georgia pastor Andy Stanley – “Andy Stanley’s ability to saran wrap the old Baptist doctrines is magical. To say that his sermons ignore the elephant in the room would not give Andy Stanley enough credit. He ice-skates around them. The heavier the question, the more balloons need only be attached for it to float away. To say that the apex of your faith condemns someone to eternal damnation is not something to be taken lightly, for some, such a God would be a monster unworthy of worship. Members of Stanley’s church troubled by this must leave the rock on that ant-mound undisturbed, or become pariahs for asking.”
4 More Ways to Raise Egalitarian Children – “Some may define egalitarianism as ‘belief in the equality of all people, especially in political, social, or economic life,’ but a more precise definition for the contemporary parlance would be ‘belief that every person should have equal access to every opportunity in every circumstance imaginable.’ To provide such a society for our children, to build them a shining egalitarian city on a level playing field, one major progress-impeding super villain needs defeating.”
Joni Hannigan and the Bullying of Baptist Pastors – “Joni Hannigan has repeatedly been used by certain individuals in the Jerry Vines/Connect 316 wing (for lack of a better term) of the SBC to post propaganda at the Christian Examiner in the name of ‘journalism.’ Repeatedly, Hannigan does not do her research. We pointed this out in the first post last week, in response to her online article lamenting bloggers “bullying” the SBC Pastor’s Conference into uninviting Seventh Day Adventist and anhilationist, Ben Carson, from speaking. This isn’t the first time Hannigan has resorted to the “bullying” charge, saying essentially the same of Pulpit & Pen contributor (prior to him being a contributor), Seth Dunn, last Fall. To defend Hannigan, Caner’s former spokesman, Peter Lumpkins, put up a post on his blog, Synergism Tomorrow, accusing P&P of ‘character assassination’ for pointing out that Hannigan repeatedly doesn’t check her facts and does so for the political advantage of a certain wing of the SBC.”
SERMON:
Mike Abendroth – How Sovereign is the LORD? (Jonah 1:4-16
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VIDEOS:
The Myth of Freewill
I was not led!
“If you alter or obscure the Biblical portrait of God in order to attract converts, you don’t get converts to God, you get converts to an illusion. This is not evangelism but deception.” – John Piper
Don’t Believers Have a New Heart now?
Q. After reading your response to the question “Do We Have Our New Heart Yet?”, you stated that we will not get a new heart until after the rapture when we are changed. What about 2 Corinthians 5:17? It states that we are made new creatures the moment we believe and are saved. Doesn’t that include a new heart?
Is Remembering The Day Important?
Q. Many people I have come in contact with over the years in the church I go to say ” I can remember the exact date I was saved”. I personally remember walking the aisle as a young boy of about eight are nine then getting baptized when I was around thirteen years old when I became aware of right and wrong but I can not remember the exact dates. My question is how does knowing the exact date and time matter?
Why Do We Still Sin?
Q. If we are to walk in the spirit so as not to sin, why do we still fall prey to sin? I try hard not to sin but I find that I keep slipping up, letting temptation get the better of me. I’m afraid God will just give up on me. What can I do?
Featured Blogs
Hate the Sin, Love the Sinner?
“My Last Day” — the Jesus Anime
9 powerful minutes of animation that begins with a thief behind bars watching the scourging of Jesus, and it ends with the thief dying next to Jesus, and waking to see Him in a beautiful place.
The dying thief: What was so great about his faith?
Our Time is Short
Ready to start your new life with God?
Who do you think that I am?
With that brief question Jesus Christ confronted His followers with the most important issue they would ever face. He had spent much time with them and made some bold claims about His identity and authority. Now the time had come for them either to believe or deny His teachings.
Who do you say Jesus is? Your response to Him will determine not only your values and lifestyle, but your eternal destiny as well.
Consider what the Bible says about Him: Read more
Look to Jesus
Have you ever felt a little lost and wished there was a quick-start guide to your relationship with God? This is it!
30 Day Next Steps
John Beckett, a leading Christian businessman, has written a series to read over 30 days for new believers.
New Believers Guide
The New Believer’s Guide is a series of articles designed to show you how to walk in the new life Christ has given you— a life of faith and freedom.
Jesus Booklet
Jesus is the Savior of the world. Discover who Jesus is today in this series.
About Christianity
Know Jesus Christ and your life will be transformed
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