Category Archives: Church

The Church’s Role in National Decay

By Spencer D Gear

At a time when Australia is in moral disarray, who decides what are the `right’ values for government, education, media and individuals? We live in a society that is wanting to throw out absolute, God-given moral values and replace them with the whim and fancy of individuals. The public square seems naked.

Chuck Colson, of Watergate fame in the USA, who became a born-again Christian believer, while speaking of the USA, stated in 1994, prior to September 11, 2001, that “the culture in which we live is nearly lost.” [1] Secular historian, Will Durant, follows a similar theme when he states that “we will find it no easy task to mold a natural ethic strong enough to maintain moral restraint and social order without the support of supernatural consolations, hopes, and fears.” [2] Francis Schaeffer’s response to Durant’s comment was:

Poor Will Durant! It is not just difficult, it is impossible. He should have remembered the quotation he and Ariel Durant gave from the agnostic Renan in their book

The Lessons of History

According to the Durants, Renan said in 1866, “If rationalism wishes to govern the world without regard to the religious needs of the soul, the experience of the French Revolution is there to teach us the consequences of such a blunder.” [3]

The Durants persist with morality’s link to faith: “There is no significant example in history before our time, of a society successfully maintaining moral life without the aid of religion.” [4]

The hunger for the transcendent remains unabated. . . The yearning for the spiritual just will not die. . . There is no clearer demonstration of this unrelenting hunger than the experiences of Russia and China as each has, in its own way, tried to exterminate the idea of God, only to realize that He rises up to outlive His pallbearers. . . The greatest question of our time must be considered: Can man live without God? It must be answered not only by those who are avowedly antitheistic, but also by the many who functionally live as if there were no God and that His existence does not matter. [5]

If Australia is to be restored, God’s transcendent truth must be proclaimed, demonstrated and brought to bear on our society. Jesus said that this was essential for believers (the church) to be salt and light. Christians must stand up and be counted for God’s truth in allareas of society.

BUT WHERE IS THE CHURCH?

Crime and violence skyrocket; sexual promiscuity and venereal disease are rampant; the poor and homeless are marginal; who protects the unborn, the handicapped and the elderly? Daily I deal with rebellious youth and disillusioned parents. Sometimes they are care-less parents and fed-up youth. Where is the church? Singer and songwriter, the late Keith Green, nailed the problem when he sang that we are “asleep in the light”:

Do you see, do you see all the people sinking down?
Don’t you care, don’t you care?
Are you gonna let them drown?
How can you be so numb not to care if they come?
You close your eyes and pretend the job’s done. . .
He’s told you to speak, but you keep holding it in.
Oh, can’t you see it’s such sin.
The world is sleeping in the dark
that the Church just can’t fight,
‘cause it’s asleep in the light. [6]

David Wilkerson agreed: “The church of Jesus Christ is asleep. Its shepherds are mostly slumbering or chasing after their own dreams. Only the sleeping church could have allowed the abominations now poisoning it.” [7]

The moral madness in Australia is worsening. For the average Aussie, life goes on as usual with few concerned about the awful danger we are in. Almost nobody is alarmed. Apathy has overcome the culture and the church. But that won’t stop the judgment that is coming.

The people of Noah’s day did not expect the catastrophe, but it came just the same. While we live in relative luxury, gross injustice is being perpetrated with the shedding of innocent blood. But what does a fat society and a sleepy church do? “Give us another drink!” South Australian Christian ethicist, John Fleming calls it “decaffeinated Christianity.” [8] John Smith says we are a “delinquent church.” [9]

For Israel, it took a Lion’s roar through the true prophet, Amos. What will is take to awaken Australia’s Christians, let alone the culture? God has already given Christians His orders: “And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here” (Romans 13:11-12).

It is time to wake up!!

The spiritual and moral danger we are in, are too critical to brush aside with, “She’ll be right mate!” The issues we face are too crucial. The destiny of people made “in the image of God” hangs in the balance. The direction of our nation is too pivotal for Christians to be casual and lazy when delivering God’s message. Christian preacher and writer with prophetic insight, John O. Anderson, challenges the church: “The lawyer’s mistakes go to jail, the doctor’s mistakes go to the cemetery, but the minister’s mistakes go to hell!” [10]

Endnotes:

[1] Charles Colson, “Foreword,” Ravi Zacharias, Can Man Live Without God? Dallas: Word Publishing, 1994, p. x.
[2] Will Durant, The Humanist, February 1977, in Francis A Schaeffer, A Christian Manifesto. Westchester, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1981, p. 45.
[3] In ibid. The quote is from Will & Ariel Durant, The Lessons of History. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1968, pp. 50-51.
[4] Durant, ibid.
[5] Ravi Zacharias, pp. xv-xvi.
[6] Keith Green, “Asleep in the Light,” retrieved from “Frontlines” on June 10, 2002, at http://www.heartofgod.com/frontlines1/Articles/EdRec.asp?ArticleID=47
[7] David Wilkerson, Set the Trumpet to Thy Mouth. Lindale, Texas: World Challenge, Inc., 1985, p. 108.
[8] In John O. Anderson, The Cry of Compassion: The Church’s Needed Voice in Today’s World. Klamath Falls, Oregon: John O. Anderson, 1992, p. 67.
[9] John Smith, Advance Australia Where? Homebush West, NSW: Anzea Publishers, 1988, p. 211.
[10] Anderson, p. 81.

Wake up from your slumber!

cubed-redmatte

Christian cafe owner threatened with arrest for playing DVD of Bible verses

video-police-ban-bible-from-christian-cafe

Jamie Murray runs Salt & Light Cafe, Blackpool, Lancashire, UK (courtesy The Christian Institute)

By Spencer D Gear

Do we understand the seriousness of the times in which we live? This story that I read from the UK caused me to reflect on how much longer it will be before Christians in our countries could face similar threats when we evangelise in public.

You might like to take a read of several takes on this story:

Police tell cafe owner: Stop showing Bible DVDs, or we will have to arrest you;

Christian cafe warned over homophobic Bible verses:

Christian cafe owner warned by police over Bible verse display;

Police to British cafe: Don’t show Bible DVD;

More appalling Christophobia (I was alerted to this issue by Bill Muehlenberg who wrote this article).

The Christian Institute has provided an early assessment of the case, ‘Video: Police ban Bible from Christian cafe’.

The Baptist Press link above concludes the article with this challenge:

“England, the U.S. and other Western nations share the same legal, political and religious traditions,” Mike Judge, a spokesman for the Christian Institute in the U.K., told Baptist Press last year. “If this can happen in England, it can happen where you live. Christians need to be aware that small changes in the law can lead to big changes in the culture. If you want to be free to share the Gospel, you must defend that liberty in the public square. Don’t hide in your churches; get out there and engage in the culture. Do it wisely, graciously, with excellence and with courage.”

Will we evangelicals continue to remain silent while our Christian liberties are being eroded? What will be your response if there is a complaint against you when you share the Gospel with unbelievers in your country?

I urge you to seriously consider the Christian challenges in our culture and become an active person in standing for the faith and challenging those (including government) who may want to silence us.

Is this religious discrimination or not? What is happening to our Western world when a person who plays a silent edition of the Bible in his own business is threatened with arrest?

There is a follow-up report from the Christian Institute in the UK, ‘Police say ‘sorry’ over Christian café Bible case’. However the case is not ending there as the Christian Institute states in this news release.

Believer’s baptism or infant baptism?

Evangelical Protestant baptism by immersion (Wikipedia)

Baptism of a child by affusion, (Wikipedia)

By Spencer D Gear

Should infants be baptised or is baptism only for believing adults? Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and some Protestant churches advocate and practise infant baptism. Baptists, many Pentecostals, Churches of Christ (Australia) and some other denominations consider baptism is only for Christians who have believed in Christ for salvation. Which is it?

But let me say at the outset that this is not core Christian doctrine. I will not use baptism as a divisive issue to separate Christians who love the Lord.

I was doing some posts on Christian Fellowship Forum and I stated: “Infant baptism is an addition from about the third century onwards”.[1] Tertullian was the first to mention infant baptism around AD 200 (see below).

Richard wrote:

“Unproven statement. Some evidence to the contrary exists, particularly the Biblical evidence that whole households were baptised, which would likely include infants. There is no evidence that a whole household excluded young children.

“You may want to maintain your position based on your doctrinal understanding, but you do not have a historically sound basis for it. Likewise, I may want to maintain my position, and I do have hints of a historical basis for it, although those hints do not rise to the level of historical proof”.[2]

Since he and his church (Roman Catholic) are advocates of and practise infant baptism, I expected this kind of response. I was baptised as an infant by my religious, but not born-again, parents in the Methodist church. When they came to faith in Christ in 1959, through the preaching ministry of Billy Graham, they investigated infant vs believer’s baptism. Why? The weight of evidence from the Scriptures supports believer’s baptism. When I came to faith in Christ alone for salvation, I investigated this issue and was baptised as a believer by immersion – even though I had been sprinkled as an infant.

This debate has been going on for centuries, so I am well aware of the baptism issues: infant baptism vs believer’s baptism. I’m aware of the “household” advocacy to include children in baptism that Richard was using (Reformed people will use the covenantal issue). Let’s look at the NT evidence.

A. New Testament precedent

The Book of Acts demonstrates by example that those who were believers, following a confession of faith, were baptised. In the early chapters of Acts we read:

“Those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41 ESV).[3]
“But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women” (Acts 8:12).

B. Household baptisms

Do household baptisms indicate that infants are included? We have three confirmed cases of “household” baptisms in the NT and one where there is a strong inference that an entire household was included. The implied inference is that of Cornelius (Acts 10:47-48; 11:14). Those of definite household baptism are: Lydia (Acts 16:15), the Philippian jailer (Acts 16:33-34, and Stephanas in 1 Cor. 1:16. The argument has been going on for centuries as to whether these “households” included children.

Let’s examine these:

1. Cornelius (Acts 10:47-48; 11:14)

We know from Acts 11:14 that Peter “he will declare to you [Cornelius] a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household” (ESV). However, we know that infants could not have been included in the household because Acts 10:46 tells us that when Peter preached the Word and the Holy Spirit fell on them and they were speaking in tongues and extolling God (ESV). Then they were commanded to be baptised.

This could NOT have included infants because they could not speak in tongues and magnify the Lord by speaking. Peter commanded those who spoke in tongues and extolled the Lord to be baptised. This is impossible for infants. As I say, it is a strong inference from Acts 11:14 that those who spoke in tongues and praised the Lord were Cornelius and his household. If that inference is correct, there is no way that these believers could have been infants. Therefore, no infants could be baptised.

2. Lydia (Acts 16:15)

Lydia was a worshipper of God (16:14) and “after she was baptized and her household”, Timothy, Paul and Silas were invited into her house to stay “if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord” (16:15). There is nothing here to indicate that infants were baptised. Besides, Jesus required baptism to be part of discipleship (Matt. 28:19-20). This is impossibility for infants.

Let’s check out a few people who support infant baptism for their views on the “household” baptism of Lydia.

Henry Alford: “It may be that no inference of infant baptism is hence deducible”;
Paton J. Gloag: “Evidently the passage in itself cannot be adduced as a proof either for or against baptism; there is in it no indication whether there were or were not infants in the household of Lydia”.
H. A. W. Meyer: “No trace is to be found in the New Testament, speaking of the baptism of the children of Christians”.

However, it would not be inconsistent to use another example from Acts 16 as a template for whether or not “household” baptism included infants. Let’s examine….

3. The Philippian jailer (Acts 16:33-34)

In the context, it states that “they spoke the Word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house” (Acts 16:32 ESV). Then 16:34 tells us that “he [the Philippian jailer] rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed”. It is impossible for infants to do this rejoicing over the jailer’s positive response to the speaking of the Word of the Lord. It is impossible for babies to have believed in the Lord. Therefore, this is another example of believer’s baptism.

4. Stephanas (1 Cor. 1:16)

In the context of 1 Corinthians, we know that “the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints” (1 Cor. 16:15).

Imagine that coming from infants! The household of Stephanas later devoted themselves to ministry to the saints. No theology of children’s baptism can be found in this passage. If we are to be consistent interpreters of Scripture (and we need to be), the children who are part of household baptism must also be devoted to service to Christian saints. This is impossibility, so the example of Stephanas proves again that it did not include infant baptism but believer’s baptism.

5. Jesus’ view on baptism after His resurrection

Jesus gave a very clear understanding of the association of baptism with Christian believing in Matt. 28:19-20:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (ESV).

Jesus is crystal clear that baptism is associated with making disciples of all nations. Discipleship is an impossible task for infants. The foundational requirement cannot be achieved by infants.

Therefore, the consistent picture of the NT is that “household” baptism does not include infants, but, based on the words of Jesus, baptism is an important dimension of Christian discipleship. Infants are incapable of becoming disciples of Christ.

C. Wayne Grudem on household baptism

Grudem’s view of household baptism is:

The examples of household baptisms in the New Testament are really not decisive for one position or another. When we look at the actual examples more closely, we see that in a number of them there are indications of saving faith on the part of all of those baptized. For example, it is true that the family of the Philippian jailer was baptized (Acts 16:33), but it is also true that Paul and Silas “spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all that were in his house” (Acts 16:32). If the Word of the Lord was spoken to all in the house, there is an assumption that all were old enough to understand the word and believe it. Moreover, after the family had been baptized, we read that the Philippian jailer “rejoiced with all his household that he had believed in God” (Acts 16:34). So we have not only a household baptism but also a household reception of the Word of God and a household rejoicing in faith in God. These facts suggest quite strongly that the entire household had individually come to faith in Christ.

With regard to the fact that Paul baptized “the household of Stephanas” (1 Cor. 1:16), we must also note that Paul says at the end of 1 Corinthians that “the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints” (1 Cor. 16:15). So they were not only baptized; they were also converted and had worked at serving other believers. Once again the example of household baptism gives indication of household faith.

In fact, there are other instances where baptism is not mentioned but where we see explicit testimony to the fact that an entire household had come to faith. After Jesus healed the official’s son, we read that the father “himself believed, and all his household” (John 4:53). Similarly, when Paul preached at Corinth, “Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with all his household” (Acts 18:8).

This means that of all the examples of “household baptisms” in the New Testament, the only one that does not have some indication of household faith as well is Acts 16:14-15, speaking of Lydia: “The Lord opened her heart to give heed to what was said by Paul. And when she was baptized, with her household.” The text simply does not contain any information about whether there were infants in her household or not. It is ambiguous and certainly not weighty evidence for infant baptism. It must be considered inconclusive in itself.

With regard to Peter’s statement at Pentecost that “the promise is to you and to your children,” we should note that the sentence continues as follows: “For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him” (Acts 2:39). Moreover, the same paragraph specifies not that believers and unbelieving children were baptized, but that “those who received his ward were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls”(Acts 2:41).[4]

For an extended discussion on baptism, see chapter 49 of Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology (1994), which is available HERE. He concludes in favour of believer’s baptism:

We have argued above that baptism symbolizes regeneration or spiritual rebirth. But does it only symbolize? Or is there some way in which it is also a “means of grace,” that is, a means that the Holy Spirit uses to bring blessing to people? We have already discussed this question in the previous chapter,23 so here it only is necessary to say that when baptism is properly carried out then of course it brings some spiritual benefit to believers as well. There is the blessing of God’s favor that comes with all obedience, as well as the joy that comes through public profession of one’s faith, and the reassurance of having a clear physical picture of dying and rising with Christ and of washing away sins. Certainly the Lord gave us baptism to strengthen and encourage our faith—and it should do so for everyone who is baptized and for every believer who witnesses a baptism.[5]

But Grudem also urges Christians not to make baptism a divisive issue:

Do Churches Need to Be Divided Over Baptism? In spite of many years of

division over this question among Protestants, is there a way in which Christians who differ on baptism can demonstrate greater unity of fellowship? And is there a way that progress can be made in bringing the church closer to unity on this question?

One way forward could be for paedobaptists and advocates of believers’ baptism both to come to a common admission that baptism is not a major doctrine of the faith, and that they are willing to live with each other’s views on this matter and not allow differences over baptism to be a cause for division within the body of Christ.29 Specifically, this would mean allowing both views of baptism to be taught and practiced in denominations on both sides of the question.[6]

D. Evidence from the early church fathers

What do the early church fathers have to say about infant baptism?

1. Justin Martyr (ca. 100-165):

“As many as are persuaded and believe that what we teach and say is true, … are brought by us where there is water, and are regenerated [born-again] in the same manner in which we were ourselves regenerated. For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water. For Christ also said, “Except ye be born again, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. . . And for this we have learned from the apostles this reason. Since at our birth we were born without our own knowledge or choice, by our parents coming together, and were brought up in bad habits and wicked training; in order that we may not remain the children of necessity and of ignorance, but may become the children of choice and knowledge, and may obtain in the water the remission of sins formerly committed, there is pronounced over him who chooses to be born again, and has repented of his sins, the name of God the Father, . . . the name of Jesus Christ, . . . and in the name of the Holy Ghost. . .”.[7]

2. Tertullian (ca. 130-230) speaks of baptism for children who believe:

“Consequently in view of the circumstances and will, even the age of each person, a postponement of Baptism is most advantageous, particularly, however, in the case of children. For what need is there, if it is not so urgent, that the sponsors also should be brought into danger, being as they are themselves also by reason of their mortality capable of falling short of their promises and being deceived by the development of an evil disposition? The Lord indeed says: ‘Forbid them not to come unto Me.’ Let them come, then, while they are growing up; let them come while they are learning, while they are being taught whither to come; let them become Christians, when they have been able to know Christ. Why hurries the age of innocence to the remission of sins? Shall we act more cautiously in worldly matters? Shall one to whom earthly substance is not entrusted, be entrusted with heavenly? Let them know how to seek salvation, that you may be seen ‘to give to him that asketh'”.[8]

3. The Didache (ca. 95-150)

We don’t learn much about baptism and salvation from this document:

” CHAPTER 7

7:1 But concerning baptism, thus baptize ye: having first recited all these precepts, baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in running water;

7:2 but if thou hast not running water, baptize in some other water, and if thou canst not baptize in cold, in warm water;

7:3 but if thou hast neither, pour water three times on the head, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

7:4 But before the baptism, let him who baptizeth and him who is baptized fast previously, and any others who may be able. And thou shalt command him who is baptized to fast one or two days before. . .

9:5 And let none eat or drink of your Eucharist but such as have been baptized into the name of the Lord, for of a truth the Lord hath said concerning this, Give not that which is holy unto dogs”.[9]

4. Hippolytus of Rome (died ca. 235)

In his writing, ‘The Apostolic Tradition’, he wrote:

At the hour in which the cock crows, they shall first pray over the water. ²When they come to the water, the water shall be pure and flowing, that is, the water of a spring or a flowing body of water. ³Then they shall take off all their clothes. ⁴The children shall be baptized first. All of the children who can answer for themselves, let them answer. If there are any children who cannot answer for themselves, let their parents answer for them, or someone else from their family. ⁵After this, the men will be baptized. Finally, the women, after they have unbound their hair, and removed their jewelry. No one shall take any foreign object with themselves down into the water.

” 6At the time determined for baptism, the bishop shall give thanks over some oil, which he puts in a vessel. It is called the Oil of Thanksgiving. 7He shall take some more oil and exorcise it. It is called the Oil of Exorcism. 8A deacon shall hold the Oil of Exorcism and stand on the left. Another deacon shall hold the Oil of Thanksgiving and stand on the right.

9When the elder takes hold of each of them who are to receive baptism, he shall tell each of them to renounce, saying, “I renounce you Satan, all your service, and all your works.” 10After he has said this, he shall anoint each with the Oil of Exorcism, saying, “Let every evil spirit depart from you.” 11Then, after these things, the bishop passes each of them on nude to the elder who stands at the water. They shall stand in the water naked. A deacon, likewise, will go down with them into the water. 12When each of them to be baptized has gone down into the water, the one baptizing shall lay hands on each of them, asking, “Do you believe in God the Father Almighty?” 13And the one being baptized shall answer, “I believe.” 14He shall then baptize each of them once, laying his hand upon each of their heads. 15Then he shall ask, “Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and died, and rose on the third day living from the dead, and ascended into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of the Father, the one coming to judge the living and the dead?”

16When each has answered, “I believe,” he shall baptize a second time. 17Then he shall ask, “Do you believe in the Holy Spirit and the Holy Church and the resurrection of the flesh?” 18Then each being baptized shall answer, “I believe.” And thus let him baptize the third time.

19Afterward, when they have come up out of the water, they shall be anointed by the elder with the Oil of Thanksgiving, saying, “I anoint you with holy oil in the name of Jesus Christ.” 20Then, drying themselves, they shall dress and afterwards gather in the church.

21The bishop will then lay his hand upon them, invoking, saying, “Lord God, you who have made these worthy of the removal of sins through the bath of regeneration, make them worthy to be filled with your Holy Spirit, grant to them your grace, that they might serve you according to your will, for to you is the glory, Father and Son with the Holy Spirit, in the Holy Church, now and throughout the ages of the ages. Amen”.[10]

Verse 4 notes: ‘The children shall be baptized first. All of the children who can answer for themselves, let them answer. If there are any children who cannot answer for themselves, let their parents answer for them, or someone else from their family‘. This statement alone does not indicate that children who were baptised were not believers. In fact, defacto people (parents or relatives) could speak for those children who could not speak for themselves. This verse does not state that these children were infants who could not believe.

If we want to emulate Hippolytus exactly, then one would need to do all baptisms in pure running water and not in some baptismal font in a church building. In addition, with all baptisms, adults and children shall take off all of their clothes. I could not imagine that being acceptable in twenty-first century Western society. A fellow on a Christian forum (in a private message) challenged me with using Hippolytus to support believers’ baptism when Hippolytus was alleged to have included infant baptism. I could imagine that that fellow would create quite a ruckus if he were to go onto this public forum and be a full advocate of what Hippolytus recommended. As you know from what I’ve written above, I’m committed to what the Scriptures state about the nature of baptism.

I take up the challenge of this fellow in my inclusion of Hippolytus in support of believers’ baptism. However, from this passage in Hippolytus, there is no guarantee that he is supporting paedobaptism as practised by the infant baptism promoters in contemporary society. If we accept what Hippolytus wrote in relation to baptism, we would need to conclude:

(a) He was confused in his understanding of baptism (thus making Hippolytus just another author, but with no scriptural authority).

(b) He recommended baptism in the nuddy, and

(c) There shall be no baptism of anyone using a baptismal font in a church; the water MUST be pure and flowing.

I am convinced from the biblical evidence that a strong case can be made for believer’s baptism, but there are many Christians who love the Lord who support infant baptism. I will not use the mode of baptism as a means to cause division in the body of Christ.

Notes

[1] Fellowship Forum, The Fellowship Hall, “David Wilkerson killed”, #170, available at: http://community.compuserve.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=162&nav=messages&webtag=ws-fellowship&tid=120662 (Accessed 15 May 2011).

[2] Ibid., #172, available at: http://community.compuserve.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?webtag=ws-fellowship&nav=messages&msg=120662.172 (Accessed 15 May 2011). On 7 August 2019 this link was not working. The website has been closed down.

[3] Unless otherwise stated, all Bible quotations are from the English Standard Version of the Bible, available from Biblegateway.

[4] Wayne Grudem 1994. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Bible Doctrine. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, p. 978.

[5] Ibid., pp. 980-981.

[6] Ibid., p. 982.

[7] First Apology, Chapter LXI, available from: http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/anf01/htm/viii.ii.lxi.htm (Accessed 15 May 2011).

[8] Concerning Baptism, para 18, available at: http://www.tertullian.org/articles/souter_orat_bapt/souter_orat_bapt_04baptism.htm (Accessed 15 May 2011).

[9] Available at: http://www.ocf.org/OrthodoxPage/reading/St.Pachomius/Liturgical/didache.html (Accessed 15 May 2011).

[10] Available at: http://www.bombaxo.com/hippolytus.html, emphasis added (Accessed 15 May 2011).

Compare Charles Wesley’s hymn with a Hillsong song

By Spencer D Gear

Have you compared the biblical content of the hymns/songs of Charles Wesley with the hymns/songs of Hillsong? Here is but one example.

Charles Wesley

And Can It Be

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

Refrain:

Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

‘Tis mystery all: th’Immortal dies:
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
‘Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.

RefrainHe left His Father’s throne above
So free, so infinite His grace
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
‘Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!

RefrainLong my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free;
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

RefrainStill the small inward voice I hear,
That whispers all my sins forgiven;
Still the atoning blood is near,
That quenched the wrath of hostile Heaven.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.

RefrainNo condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Refrain

Hillsong

All I Do

I wanted to find
Where I was going
Everything I tried
It took me nowhere
I was so tired of just living my life
Waiting for a sign
You came to my side
Gave me direction
Strong on the inside
I shine for You Lord
Now it’s my time
Now I’ve made up my mind
To be all You want for me
All I do
Is live my life for You
I know it’s true
I’ll never let You go
All I do
I’d anything for You
Everything is in Your Hands
So I get up
Get up and praise You
And I know where I’m going
I know where I’m going

I posted this comparison to Christian Fellowship Forum, “Charles Wesley vs Hillsong”. Janet (#2) replied:

>>I wanted to find
Where I was going
Everything I tried
It took me nowhere
I was so tired of just living my life
……
And I know where I’m going
I know where I’m going.<<

Oh, the depth, the profundity! What marks modern church music (I can’t bring myself to call it sacred music) is the shallowness of lyrics, the general tunelessness, and the incessant returns to I, me, my, and mine.

Of the nearly three hundred words in Wesley’s hymn, 24 refer to I, me, my, or mine, and 23 refer directly to deity. The second piece of fluff manages to mention self 24 times in only 111 words, plus another one in the title; of its 24 lines, memorable only because there is nothing one would care to remember about them, only two do not contain a reference to self. In contrast, God is referenced only 8 times. I find this emphasis on self to be a common feature of modern so-called church music.

Do you remember this hymn? What about the parody which follows it?

DEAR LORD AND FATHER OF MANKIND

By John Greenleaf Whittier

Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways;
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.

In simple trust like theirs who heard,
Beside the Syrian sea,
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word,
Rise up and follow Thee.

O Sabbath rest by Galilee,
O calm of hills above,
Where Jesus knelt to share with Thee
The silence of eternity,
Interpreted by love!

With that deep hush subduing all
Our words and works that drown
The tender whisper of Thy call,
As noiseless let Thy blessing fall
As fell Thy manna down.

Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.

Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm.

This parody of the hymn appeared in the Anglican Advocate (July 2000):

DEAR LORD AND FATHER OF MANKIND (a parody)

To be sung to the tune Repton:
Dear Lord and Father of mankind, forgive our foolish ways;
For most of us, when asked our mind,
admit we still most pleasure find
In hymns of ancient days, in hymns of ancient days.

The simple lyrics, for a start, of many a modern song
Are far too trite to touch the heart;
enshrine no poetry, no art;
And go on much too long, and go on much too long.

O, for a rest from jollity and syncopated praise!
What happened to tranquillity?
The silence of eternity
Is hard to hear these days, is hard to hear these days.

Send Thy deep hush, subduing all those happy claps that drown
The tender whisper of Thy call;
triumphalism is not all,
For sometimes we feel down, for sometimes we feel down.

Drop Thy still dews of quietness till all our strummings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress
of always having to be blessed;
Give us a bit of peace, give us a bit of peace.

Breathe through the beats of praise-guitar Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let drum be dumb, bring back the lyre,
enough of earthquake, wind and fire,
Let’s hear it for some calm, let’s hear it for some calm.

Sudden death of David Wilkerson

David Wilkerson Tribute

(courtesy World Challenge)

By Spencer D Gear

My friend and Christian colleague, Aeron Morgan, posted this information on his website: [1]

Today, Thursday 28 April 2011, here in Australia we have received the sad news of the sudden and tragic death of our dear Brother David Wilkerson, a beloved, humble and faithful servant of our Lord Jesus Christ. The following web-link will take you to a fuller report, put out so promptly by Charisma magazine, of the fatal accident.

This will be a tremendous shock and loss to our fellow believers at Times Square, but believe that God will graciously undertake for Pastor Carter Conlan as he now has the task of guiding the saints there through this hour of sorrow and immense loss. The added painful news is that Brother Wilkerson’s wife, Gwendolyn, was with him in the car and is in hospital with injuries which are reported to be critical.

I am sure that YOU will join the many thousands around the world in prayer for Sister Wilkerson and the family in their bereavement and that she will be fully recovered from her injuries. Pray also for the dear saints at Times Square Church, that God will comfort their saddened hearts, losing an outstanding champion for truth and holiness. We salute the memory of such a dedicated servant of Christ. We are the poorer for his passing, but we cannot question God’s goodness and wisdom, committing the things we don’t understand to HIM “who doeth all things well.” Many of us have been privileged to visit Times Square Church, tremendously impressed with what God has wrought there. TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

The Pentecostal world in particular will miss such a needed voice for God in these days of compromise and worldliness, and that faithful prophetic call back to the “old paths” our brother was known for. May God visit us in this late hour prior to the coming of our Lord Jesus. David Wilkerson longed for such a move of God’s Holy Spirit, not only across his beloved America, but in the nations of our world at this troublesome time. Let’s be part of the remnant that will manifest something of the same godliness and passion as our dear brother, together bear something of the burden he shouldered for so long – for without question: IT IS TIME TO SEEK THE LORD.

David Wilkerson, Times Square Church, New York

You can read further details on the Charisma magazine website, “David Wilkerson killed in car crash“. The Christian Broadcasting Network has also reported the tragedy in, “Rev. David Wilkerson killed in TX car crash”. Christianity Today reported the sad news in, “David Wilkerson killed in car crash“. Beliefnet reported that “Famed New York City street preacher, author David Wilkerson killed in car crash“.

This Associated Press (USA Today) news item, “Times Square church founder dies in Texas crash”, stated that David Wilkerson was not wearing a seat belt in the car that crashed, when the USA requires the wearing of seat belts:

Wilkerson was not wearing a seat-belt at the time of the crash, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. His wife, Gwendolyn, was also in the car and was wearing a seat-belt, Mange said. She was taken to a hospital, where she was in stable condition with cuts and bruises, Mange said.

I have a particular affinity with Teen Challenge as I was part of its training ministry in drug rehabilitation in Canberra, Australia, for a couple of years in the early 1990s and in the early 1970s I engaged in ministry from a Teen Challenge coffee shop with the needy on the streets of The Valley, Brisbane.

David Wilkerson will be remembered for his pioneering work in Christian drug rehabilitation that was described in his seminal publication, The Cross and the Switchblade. Its story became the film, The Cross and the Switchblade that starred Pat Boone as David Wilkerson.

Image may contain: one or more people, night, suit and close-up
(Courtesy David Wilkerson, Facebook)

Here is what he wrote in his very last blog, “David Wilkerson Today” of 27 April 2011, the very day he died:

To believe when all means fail is exceedingly pleasing to God and is most acceptable. Jesus said to Thomas, “You have believed because you have seen, but blessed are those that do believe and have not seen” (John 20:29).

Blessed are those who believe when there is no evidence of an answer to prayer—who trust beyond hope when all means have failed.

Someone has come to the place of hopelessness—the end of hope—the end of all means. A loved one is facing death and doctors give no hope. Death seems inevitable. Hope is gone. The miracle prayed for is not happening.

That is when Satan’s hordes come to attack your mind with fear, anger, overwhelming questions: “Where is your God now? You prayed until you had no tears left. You fasted. You stood on promises. You trusted.”

Blasphemous thoughts will be injected into your mind: “Prayer failed. Faith failed. Don’t quit on God—just do not trust him anymore. It doesn’t pay!”

Even questioning God’s existence will be injected into your mind. These have been the devices of Satan for centuries. Some of the godliest men and women who ever lived were under such demonic attacks.

To those going through the valley and shadow of death, hear this word: Weeping will last through some dark, awful nights—and in that darkness you will soon hear the Father whisper, “I am with you. I cannot tell you why right now, but one day it will all make sense. You will see it was all part of my plan. It was no accident. It was no failure on your part. Hold fast. Let me embrace you in your hour of pain.”

Beloved, God has never failed to act but in goodness and love. When all means fail—his love prevails. Hold fast to your faith. Stand fast in his Word. There is no other hope in this world (my emphasis).

Australian Christian cultural apologist, Bill Muehlenberg, has written this fitting tribute to David Wilkerson, “David Wilkerson RIP”.

Messages from David Wilkerson

1. A Call to Anguish, by David Wilkerson

23 August 2009

This message is a partially transcribed excerpt from an original message spoken by David Wilkerson. The full message is titled: “A Call to Anguish.” and can be downloaded from “www.sermonindex.net.”

And I look at the whole religious scene today and all I see are the inventions and ministries of man and flesh. It’s mostly powerless. It has no impact on the world. And I see more of the world coming into the church and impacting the church, rather than the church impacting the world. I see the music taking over the house of God. I see entertainment taking over the house of God. An obsession with entertainment in God’s house. A hatred of correction and a hatred of reproof. Nobody wants to hear it any more. Whatever happened to anguish in the house of God?

Whatever happened to anguish in the ministry? It’s a word you don’t hear in this pampered age. You don’t hear it. Anguish means extreme pain and distress. The emotions so stirred that it becomes painful. Acute deeply felt inner pain because of conditions about you, in you, or around you. Anguish. Deep pain. Deep sorrow. The agony of God’s heart.

We’ve held on to our religious rhetoric and our revival talk but we’ve become so passive. All true passion is born out of anguish. All true passion for Christ comes out of a baptism of anguish. You search the scripture and you’ll find that when God determined to recover a ruined situation… He would share His own anguish for what God saw happening to His church and to His people. And He would find a praying man and take that man and literally baptize him in anguish. You find it in the book of Nehemiah. Jerusalem is in ruins. How is God going to deal with this? How is God going to restore the ruin? Now folks, look at me… Nehemiah was not a preacher, he was a career man. But this was a praying man.

And God found a man who would not just have a flash of emotion. Not just some great sudden burst of concern and then let it die. He said: “No. I broke down and I wept and I mourned and I fasted. And then I began to pray night and day. Why didn’t these other men… why didn’t they have an answer? Why didn’t God use them in restoration? Why didn’t they have a word? Because there was no sign of anguish. No weeping. Not a word of prayer. It’s all ruin.

Does it matter to you today? Does it matter to you at all that God’s spiritual Jerusalem, the church, is now married to the world? That there is such a coldness sweeping the land? Closer than that… does it matter about the Jerusalem that is in our own hearts? The sign of ruin that’s slowly draining spiritual power and passion. Blind to lukewarmness, blind to the mixture that’s creeping in. That’s all the devil wants to do is to get the fight out of you and kill it. So you won’t labor in prayers anymore, you won’t weep before God anymore. You can sit and watch television and your family go to hell.

Let me ask you… is what I just said convicting to you at all? There is a great difference between anguish and concern. Concern is something that begins to interest you. You take an interest in a project or a cause or a concern or a need. And I want to tell you something. I’ve learned over all my years… of 50 years of preaching. If it is not born in anguish, if it had not been born of the Holy Spirit. Where what you saw and heard of the ruin that drove you to your knees, took you down into a baptism of anguish where you began to pray and seek God. I know now. Oh my God do I know it. Until I am in agony. Until I have been anguished over it… And all our projects, all our ministries, everything we do… Where are the Sunday school teachers that weep over kids they know are not hearing and are going to hell?

You see, a true prayer life begins at the place of anguish. You see, if you set your heart to pray, God’s going to come and start sharing His heart with you. Your heart begins to cry out: “Oh God, Your name is being blasphemed. The Holy Spirit is being mocked. The enemy is out trying to destroy the testimony of the Lord’s faithfulness and something has to be done.”

There is going to be no renewal, no revival, no awakening, until we are willing to let Him once again break us. Folks, it’s getting late, and it’s getting serious. Please don’t tell me… don’t tell me you’re concerned when you’re spending ours in front of internet or television. Come on. Lord, there are some that need to get to this alter and confess: “I am not what I was, I am not where I am supposed to be. God I don’t have Your heart or Your burden. I wanted it easy. I just wanted to be happy. But Lord, true joy comes out of anguish.” There’s nothing of the flesh that will give you joy. I don’t care how much money, I don’t care what kind of new house, there is absolutely nothing physical that can give you joy. It’s only what is accomplished by the Holy Spirit when you obey and take on His heart.

Build the walls around your family. Build the walls around your own heart. It will make you strong and impregnable against the enemy. God, that’s what we desire.

This kind of statement gets near the heart of the passion of our late brother in Christ, David. May God so move upon us that His Holy Spirit so ignites our passion for the lost and unlovely that we will move in a ministry of compassion, but with the boldness of a Christ-infused passion.

2. An Urgent Message

Saturday, March 7, 2009

AN URGENT MESSAGE

I am compelled by the Holy Spirit to send out an urgent message to all on our mailing list, and to friends and to bishops we have met all over the world.

AN EARTH-SHATTERING CALAMITY IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN. IT IS GOING TO BE SO FRIGHTENING, WE ARE ALL GOING TO TREMBLE – EVEN THE GODLIEST AMONG US.

For ten years I have been warning about a thousand fires coming to New York City. It will engulf the whole megaplex, including areas of New Jersey and Connecticut. Major cities all across America will experience riots and blazing fires—such as we saw in Watts, Los Angeles, years ago.

There will be riots and fires in cities worldwide. There will be looting—including Times Square, New York City. What we are experiencing now is not a recession, not even a depression. We are under God’s wrath. In Psalm 11 it is written,

“If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (v. 3).

God is judging the raging sins of America and the nations. He is destroying the secular foundations.

The prophet Jeremiah pleaded with wicked Israel, “God is fashioning a calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh, turn back each of you from your evil way, and reform your ways and deeds. But they will say, It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart” (Jeremiah 18:11-12).

In Psalm 11:6, David warns, “Upon the wicked he will rain snares (coals of fire)…fire…burning wind…will be the portion of their cup.” Why? David answered, “Because the Lord is righteous” (v. 7). This is a righteous judgment—just as in the judgments of Sodom and in Noah’s generation.
WHAT SHALL THE RIGHTEOUS DO? WHAT ABOUT GOD’S PEOPLE?

First, I give you a practical word I received for my own direction. If possible lay in store a thirty-day supply of non-perishable food, toiletries and other essentials. In major cities, grocery stores are emptied in an hour at the sign of an impending disaster.

As for our spiritual reaction, we have but two options. This is outlined in Psalm 11. We “flee like a bird to a mountain.” Or, as David says, “He fixed his eyes on the Lord on his throne in heaven—his eyes beholding, his eyelids testing the sons of men” (v. 4). “In the Lord I take refuge” (v. 1).

I will say to my soul: No need to run…no need to hide. This is God’s righteous work. I will behold our Lord on his throne, with his eye of tender, loving kindness watching over every step I take—trusting that he will deliver his people even through floods, fires, calamities, tests, trials of all kinds.

Note: I do not know when these things will come to pass, but I know it is not far off. I have unburdened my soul to you. Do with the message as you choose.

God bless and keep you,

In Christ,

DAVID WILKERSON

The amazing thing about David Wilkerson and the people he inspired (I am one of them) was that he loved the unlovely and ministered at street level with them.

In the 1970s, I was on the streets of downtown Brisbane, running a coffee shop with some other workers, and ministering to the junkies and prostitutes. Why? David alerted me to the need and God moved upon my heart.

That’s an amazing statement he made on his blog, “David Wilkerson Today”, on the very day he entered the presence of the Lord.

Yes, like me, he was a frail man with failings. I wish he had not made that false prophesy about New York City in 2009. But have a guess what? Even with God’s Word before me in written form, I can make errors of interpretation as a fallible human being. The redeemed on this earth are not perfect. That time is still ahead of us in our elevation to glory.

Overall, I judge David Wilkerson to be a humble man of God with a vision that took effect in the lives of those who needed the Saviour.

3. Message to the USA after September 11 attack

After the September 11, 2001 attack on New York City, David Wilkerson wrote, “The towers have fallen but we missed the message“.

Part of that message reads:

Here Is the Message I Believe God Is Trumpeting in Our Calamities.

Deep in my spirit, I hear the Lord saying, “I’ve prospered you above all nations. Yet, for years you’ve persisted in worshipping idols of gold and silver. I’ve endured your shameless sensuality, your mockery of holy things, your shedding of innocent blood, your tireless efforts to remove me from your society. Now time is running out for you.

“I’ve sent you prophet after prophet, watchman after watchman. You’ve been warned again and again. Yet still you won’t open your eyes to your wicked ways. Now I’ve stricken you, in hopes of saving you. I want to heal your land, to destroy your enemies, to bring you back into my blessing. But you don’t have eyes to see it.”

If God wouldn’t spare other nations that have outlawed him, why would he spare America? He’ll judge us even as he judged Sodom, Rome, Greece and every other culture that has turned its back on him.

On “David Wilkerson Today”, David’s son, Gary Wilkerson, has written this tribute to his Dad:

Friday, April 29, 2011

by Gary Wilkerson

“David served the purposes of God in his generation, then he died” (Acts 13:36).
On Wednesday afternoon my father, David Wilkerson, passed away in a car accident. We grieve the loss of a beloved father, a faithful husband and a holy man of God. My mother, Gwen, his wife of 57 years, was in the car also, but we are told she will recover fully.

Dad’s 60-plus years of ministry have impacted the lives of those closest to him and extended to millions around the world. Today we feel a personal loss, but at the same time we rejoice knowing Dad lived life to the fullest, obeying God with devotion and loving Jesus radically.
He was known for his unlimited faith. He believed God could change the lives of gang members and transform the most desperate drug addicts. He believed that a dynamic church could be launched in the heart of Times Square, New York City. He believed he could be a man who loved his wife and children well. And he did.

Dad was not one for fanfare, acclaim or ceremony. He turned down invitations to meet with world leaders yet would give everything he owned to support a poor orphan or a widow in distress.

Like King David of old, Dad served God’s purposes in his generation. He preached with uncompromising passion and relentless grace. He wrote with amazing insight, clarity and conviction. He ran his race well and when his work was done, he was called home.

I don’t think my father would have retired well. I don’t think he was one to sit in a rocking chair and reminisce about times past. I believe that Jesus, knowing this, graciously called him home.

Dad’s last mission on earth was to be an advocate for the poorest of the poor—to provide relief and support for hungry children and widows and orphans. After founding Teen Challenge, World Challenge and Times Square Church, he sought to feed starving children in the most impoverished countries in the world. Today, Please Pass the Bread is saving the lives of thousands of children, through 56 outreaches in 8 countries.

Like King David of old, after having served God’s purpose, he died. I know if my father were able to encourage you with his words today, he would invite you to give your all to Jesus, to love God deeply and to give yourself away to the needs of others.

The works he began outlive him. We can all attest to his impacting us—not only in his preaching, writing and founding of world-changing ministries, but in his love, devotion, compassion and ability to stir our faith for greater works.

David Wilkerson, you have run the race with exceptional faithfulness to your Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. You are now blessed to be in His presence. To those who mourn, there is this message of hope: “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints” (Psalm 116:15 ESV). Life and death depend on the sovereignty of God. There is no sudden, accidental death with God. “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:16).

For David’s wife, Gwen, and the family, they have this assurance from Jesus: “”Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).

(David Wilkerson photo, courtesy, ‘David Wilkerson Today

Notes

[1] Since uploading this article in 2013, my friend, the godly Aeron Morgan, has entered his rest in Paradise & the citation is no longer available online at his homepage.

Worldliness in church music

(image courtesy ChristArt)

By Spencer D Gear

Introduction

When I walk into the average, contemporary evangelical church and hear the “church music”, it reminds me of my DJ days as a rock radio announcer. The thumping beat of this church music and some of the light-hearted, flimsy words, remind me of the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix that I played on-air and at Record Hops long ago at the Maryborough Rowers’ Hall as a 4MB DJ in Queensland, Australia, back in the 1960s and 70s.

Within the church, this is known as contemporary Christian music (CCM). I have an increasing discomfort over what is happening to music and preaching in the evangelical church. We can expect light-hearted stuff from the liberal church because it has assaulted biblical authority, but to see it happening in the evangelical church rings alarm bells for me. [See “How liberal churches undermine the Bible. Part 1; Part 2]

Infiltration of evangelical churches

What has become of the evangelical church that it seems not to be able to discern the world’s style of music from that which glorifies the Lord in songs, hymns & spiritual songs of praise and edification (Matt. 26:30; Acts 26:25; 1 Cor. 14:26; Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16) . Has worldliness engulfed the church? I considered writing an article on this theme because it is bothering me that the seeker-sensitive church seems to have swallowed worldly music styles as part of the seeker-sensitive package. Are attempts for the church to reach the secular community and not bore church people, reasons for engaging in compromise of the Christian standard through styles of music in the church? See the article, “Did Bill Hybels ‘repent’ of seeker-sensitive?”

However, others before me have addressed this topic. In what follows, I provide a few links to expand on the reasons for my discomfort with worldliness and CCM.

Worldliness and contemporary Christian music

What is worldliness? Here’s a solid outline of it, based on I John 2:14-17. I hope you took a read. Iain Murray has a helpful article on “Worldliness”. Dr. Jack Arnold asks, “What is worldliness?” in his article on Romans 12:2.

Dr Frank Garlock has taken the church to task over “pop goes the music”, starting back in the 1970s, and the worldliness of much of CCM.

“Dr. Garlock teaches that music is not neutral or amoral. It is a language; in fact, it is one of the most important languages on earth. He warns that the message of the music must match the message of the lyrics. He says, “The words only let you know what the music already says. … The music is its own message and it can completely change the message of the words”
(Garlock, The Big Beat: A Rock Blast).

Fanny Crosby, the renowned hymnist, had some pointed observations of the connection between music and worldliness. In “Bible guidelines for Christian music” it is stated:

Fanny Crosby is the greatest hymn writer that ever lived, writing over 9,000 songs! Before Fanny got saved, at 45 years old, she wrote many secular songs. But after she got saved — things were different. . . Here’s what Fanny said about mixing Christian and worldly music:

“Sometimes I need to reject the music proposed for my songs because the musicians misunderstand that the Fanny Crosby who once wrote for the people in the saloons has merely changed the lyrics. Oh my no. The church must never sing it’s songs to the melodies of the world.” (Danny Castle, video “What’s Wrong with Christian Rock”)

And do you know why Fanny Crosby said that — because Fanny got saved! And God “hath put a NEW SONG in my mouth, even PRAISE unto our God” inside the NEW Fanny Crosby! Fanny Crosby wrote over 9,000 songs to the Lord! Fanny used over 200 different pen names because she wanted to make sure God got the glory and not her.

Praise Him! praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
SING, O Earth, His wonderful love proclaim!
Hail Him! Hail Him! Highest archangels in Glory;
Strength and honor give to His holy name!
Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard His children,
In His arms He carries them all day long;
Praise Him! Praise Him! Tell of His excellent greatness;
Praise Him! Praise Him! Ever in joyful SONG.

Pastor Phil Christensen challenges Frank Garlock in his “Response to Frank Garlock” and Garlock’s view of worldly church music.

Is the origin of rock music worldly?

By worldly, I mean a mind-set from this secular world and not from the Scriptures as proclaimed by the evangelical Christian church. What is the origin of rock music? Did it originate in the church or in the world? This is the Encyclopedia Britannica’s take on the origin of rock music.

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia states:

Musical style that arose in the U.S. in the mid-1950s and became the dominant form of popular music in the world. Though rock has used a wide variety of instruments, its basic elements are one or several vocalists, heavily amplified electric guitars (including bass, rhythm, and lead), and drums. It began as a simple style, relying on heavy, dance-oriented rhythms, uncomplicated melodies and harmonies, and lyrics sympathetic to its teenage audience’s concerns — young love, the stresses of adolescence, and automobiles. Its roots lay principally in rhythm and blues (R&B) and country music. Both R&B and country existed outside the mainstream of popular music in the early 1950s, when the Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed (1921 – 65) and others began programming R&B, which until then had been played only to black audiences. Freed’s success gave currency to the term rock and roll. The highly rhythmic, sensual music of Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and the Comets, and particularly Elvis Presley in 1955 – 56 struck a responsive chord in the newly affluent postwar teenagers. In the 1960s several influences combined to lift rock out of what had already declined into a bland and mechanical format. In England, where rock’s development had been slow, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were found to have retained the freshness of its very early years and achieved enormous success in the U.S., where a new generation had grown up unaware of the musical influences of the new stars. At the same time, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, the Byrds, and others were blending the traditional ballads and verse forms of folk music with rock, and musicians began to explore social and political themes. Performers such as the Grateful Dead, Jim Morrison of the Doors, and Frank Zappa of the Mothers of Invention combined imaginative lyrics with instrumental virtuosity, typically featuring lengthy solo improvisation. Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix won large followings with their exotic elaborations on R&B. The 1970s saw the rise of singer-songwriters such as Paul Simon, Neil Young, Elton John, David Bowie, and Bruce Springsteen, and rock assimilated other forms to produce jazz-rock, heavy metal, and punk rock. In the 1980s the disco-influenced rock of Madonna, Michael Jackson, and Prince was balanced by the post-punk “new wave” music of performers such as Laurie Anderson, Talking Heads (led by David Byrne), and the Eurythmics — all of whom illustrated their songs with music videos. By the 1990s rock music had incorporated grunge, rap, techno, and other forms.

Please don’t say that there are lots of things from worldly inventors that Christians use such as the motor car, refrigerator, microwave and DVD player. But these are not used for Christian worship.

I’ll let you be the judge, but it seems to me that in the contemporary, evangelical church, the world’s system of music has infiltrated the church in association with light-hearted, seeker-sensitive “preaching” (talks on the faith). Is this worldly preaching? See John MacArthur on “Charles Spurgeon and worldly preaching”. This is what C. H. Spurgeon had to say about “worldliness”.

Vance Havner lived from 1901-1986. During that time he wrote the following:

“Once we stood amazed at worship in the presence of the Lord. Now a generation bred on entertainment wants to sit amused. What was once an experience has become a performance and the church must put on a show. The idea of entertainment in things spiritual is nowhere in the New Testament. Nothing was further from the minds of the early saints than the idea that “we must make it interesting.” It was interesting but it was the mighty power of God that drew amazed throngs to ask, “What meaneth this?”

“It is a decadent generation in the last days that cannot endure sound doctrine and heaps to itself teachers to tickle its itching ears. Much of the professing church works itself into a fever trying to entertain as though taking a cue from Hollywood. We pattern after the age in a futile effort to reach these jaded mortals with a religious version of the thing they are surfeited with already. We go far afield and spend millions providing recreation and sport for a jittery generation that cannot rest or meditate but must be ‘doing something’ all the time. Someone has said that we do not need bowling rooms in our churches half as much as we need ‘bawling rooms,’ where parents and children need to weep their way back to God in confession of sin.

“There will be no revival until we return from amusement to amazement. Men must first ask in wonder, “’What meaneth this?’ before they will inquire, ‘What shall we do?’” (A Treasury of Vance Havner: Twentieth-Century Prophet, Preacher, Pilgrim, compiled by Betsy D. Scanlan. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1988, pp 238-9)

What would Vance Havner think today?

Contemporary Christian rock music is worldly

I see much of modern church music as worldly because

It has one dimension, a worldly way, to speak in a manner to move human beings and not in a God-focussed, transcendent way. This happens through the light-hearted music style of rock music, some country and jazz styles. This sound is pleasing to the ears of many. However, postmodernist, classical forms of music also can be used one-dimensionally to move the emotions of the heart and soul.
The worldliness is accentuated by the light content of the lyrics.
Some of the light stuff of lyrics could have a proper spiritual use in some places, but mostly it does not. Most of it is human pleasing.

What do the Scriptures say?

In the Scriptures we are exhorted to sing “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” (Colossians 3:16), but this is in the context (v. 16) of, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom”. Honestly, can this be done to the driving beat of drums and guitars of rock music that tends to dull and overpower the words? We do need a spiritual diet of all three types of songs when we come to worship – psalms, hymns and spiritual songs so that we are edified and uplifted in music of praise to our God, the holy Trinity. Our music is not to be an experience generator but to contain content that will glorify God when we hear and sing it. Rock music tends to cloud the lyrics of worship. These psalms, hymn and spiritual songs need to be melodious and singable for the average congregation. Of course, some heart response music has its place in invitational situations, but it can tend to be human focussed too much.

Is there a way back to worshipful music for singing in the church gathering? Singing the words of the Bible, including the metrical psalms, could create more songs of praise to God and less human–focussed mood music that is designed to titillate the emotions. Many old hymns are God-focussed. I’m thinking of hymns such as “To God be the Glory”, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty”, “The Lord is my Shepherd”, “O Worship the King, all-glorious above”, and “Great is thy Faithfulness”.

The Evangelical Movement of Wales has produced a God-centred hymnal in Christian Hymns (1977, Byrntirion, Bridgend). However, does this comply with my musical tastes and rock music doesn’t? The more recent music of Bill & Gloria Gather, including, “Because He lives”, also is Christ-exalting music.

I am convinced that worship of God needs to move human beings to Godward thinking rather than towards human mood music. While individual tastes can be considered, Christian music will involve moving away from sensual, rebellious styles of music to focus on God and all of his attributes. The ideal combination for the church gathering would be God-centred music that draws one to the transcendent Lord of the universe and combine it with expository preaching that focuses on the content of Scripture and not the preacher’s opinion.

Appendix 1: Comments from a CCM promoter

I asked for his comments on the article above. He wrote:

I may surprise you when I say, in the most part, that I wholeheartedly agree with you. My greater concern is not so much the style (although that can be a worry too) but rather lyrics (content, Biblical correctness and subject) and attitude of the worship leaders and singers (performance vs leading the congregation to the throne of the King). I believe that music style doesn’t have to be ancient to be classed as worship or worshipful and some old hymns drive me nuts with their awful musicality!

One of my favourite singers of Christian music is Aled Jones. A few years ago he penned a worship song called “Vespera”. It was truly what we might call worshipful Church Music – organ as core instrument and with a boys’ choir with two boy soprano soloists. Each time I hear it – and often play it in my quiet time – I am transported through the heavenly vastness and find myself in the throne room of Our Father. It makes me wonder and hope that (when we reach glory) we might hear such voices worshipping God and stirring our hearts. Praise God!

Whilst I do like modern music there are limits. My short time at [a stated church] allowed me to see such extreme rubbish as – “Let the Holy Ghost Fall”. This gave me the impression that the Holy Ghost was like a sack of potatoes falling out of heaven and hitting people, knocking them to the floor! Anyway it was “performed” by a gyrating young guy who would be better placed in a club room at a hotel under spot lights and also the night where [the pastor’s wife] ended her “worship” song, laying on her back on the “stage” kicking her legs to the sky! I have both these on video too! Whilst a couple of songs that night were true worship songs (even though in a modern framework) but most of the service was performance and self promotion, obviously designed to entertain the patrons and evoke emotional responses rather than reverently offering praise and worship to Almighty God – who is worthy to be praised!

There are so many issues where the church today is out of step and I think this is increasingly becoming one of those areas. I remember an article way back by Christian artist – Steven Curtis Chapman on the same subject – its a very sobering look at the same issue!

I see music as a gift from God, but so many have hijacked its beauty and purpose to create noise. I suppose I am with Larry Norman here -“Why should the Devil have all the Good music?”

We need apologists like you to keep these issues before the Christian Church, even if it causes us to do no more than talk and pontificate on the issue. Hopefully people will heed the call to truly worship God rather than entertain the sheep!

6pointLight

Christmas, Torture and Church Growth

The Christian Martyrs’ Last Prayer, by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1883) [courtesy Wikipedia]

By Spencer D Gear

To serve Jesus Christ openly in your community today in the Western world may come with flack, resistance and even discrimination in the workplace. But it is not a patch on what is happening worldwide to the Christians who are being tortured, even murdered, for their faith.

Why is it that followers of Messiah, the “Prince of Peace,” attract so much resistance? Jesus gave a clue when he addressed his disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27).

Christian peace is based on a relationship with the King of Kings and is not related to external circumstances. Then add the fact that to be a Christian means submission to the Master’s will. This is not a popular notion. Nor is it politically correct.

As we move into a new year, it is right that we reflect on what is happening to persecuted Christians worldwide.

Ma Yuqin is a Chinese woman who was interrogated by the Chinese police but she would not be tortured to confess. “She never broke when she was tortured with beatings and electrical shocks. Even when she was close to death, she refused to disclose the names of members of her congregation or sign a statement renouncing her Christian faith,” wrote Nicholas Kristof in his column in The New York Times.[1]

The physical torture almost killed her but it was the mental anguish that was worse. She could hear the sounds of her son being tortured in the room next door. Both could hear each other’s screams. There were incentives for them to betray their friends and their faith. “It broke my heart to hear my son’s cries,” said Ma, but it did not break her faith in Christ.

Chinese citizens are burned with cigarettes, beaten with clubs, and some lose their lives. Why? They are Christian worshippers of God.

Instead of turning people away from Christianity, the result has been the growth of the church. Tens of millions of Chinese have embraced Christ and the church. It is just as predicted by church leader of the second century, Tertullian, “Nor does your cruelty, however exquisite, avail you; it is rather a temptation to us. The oftener we are mown down by you, the more in number we grow; the blood of Christians is seed.“[2]

The Christian organisation, Open Doors, that ministers to the persecuted, assesses the level of persecution of Christians around the world. Top of the list is North Korea. Keston Institute, a British-based human rights group, says that people found with a Bible in North Korea are “detained, tortured, sent to a re-education camp, or summarily executed.”[3] Number two on the list is Saudi Arabia where arrests, torture, and prison are common. To convert from Islam to another religion in Saudi can bring the death penalty.

Numbers three and four on the list of persecutors are the Marxist countries of Laos and Vietnam. The Keston Institute was watching Russia, Belarus and Uzbekistan with concern.

People today are cynical about zealots who die for their faith. However, these persecuted Christians are not dying to kill the unbelievers, as with suicide bombers, but die in service of “the Prince of Peace,” Jesus Christ. These martyrs die not to slaughter others, but so that others might be saved.

The sufferings of the church in China and the Sudan rival that of those who died under Nero in Rome, in Hitler’s Germany, and in Russia under Stalin. Missions’ strategist, David Barrett, estimates that there have been as many Christian martyrs in the 20^th century as in all of the previous 19 centuries combined. This article was more sceptical. It stated:

World Christian Encyclopedia, produced by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary outside Boston declares there have been some 70 million Christian martyrs in history, and more than 45 million in the 20th century. In evangelical circles one often hears the claim that there were more Christian martyrs in the 20th century than in all previous centuries combined.[4]

How should we respond? As we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, who died to save us, we should pray for Ma Yuqin in China and the many others worldwide who are suffering for their faith. The Scriptures exhort us: “Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body” (Hebrews 13:3).

Notes:

[1] “God and China,” 26 November 2002, available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/26/opinion/god-and-china.html?pagewanted=1 [Accessed 1 January 2010].

[2] Tertullian, Apologeticus (or Apologeticum) Adversus Gentes Pro Christianis, Chapter 50, available at: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf03.iv.iii.l.html [Accessed 1 January 2010].

[3]Charles Colson, Breakpoint, 8 November 2002, “Remembering the Mistreated: Prayer for Persecuted Beliebvers,” available at: http://www.thechristiannews.com/breakpoint/bp11-8-02.html [Accessed 1 January 2010].

[4] Jason Myassee, Christian Century 29 July 2008, “How martyrs are made: Stories of the faithful,” available at: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_15_125/ai_n27982019/ [Accessed 1 January 2010].

The church’s role in national decay

zaika - album 'Photoshop / scrap kits / Helloween / Boo To You »on Yandeks.Fotkah

polyvore

By Spencer D Gear

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” (Edmund Burke).
“My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6).

At a time when Australia is in moral disarray, who decides what are the `right’ values for government, education, media, etc? Does the church or the state decide? Or, in a free society, do we leave it up to the individual conscience or the 51% vote?

We live in a society that is wanting to throw out absolute, transcendent moral values–what Richard Neuhaus calls “a naked public square.”

1. The Naked Public Square

Secular historian, Will Durant, said:

“The greatest question of our time is not communism versus individualism, not Europe versus America, not even East versus the West; it is whether men can live without God.” The Durant’s went on to say that “there is no significant example in history before our time, of a society successfully maintaining moral life without the aid of religion.” [1]

One of the greatest leaders in the first few centuries of the church, Augustine of Hippo, wrote the book, The City of God, one of the most influential writings in church history, to defend the role of Christianity being essential for preserving society.

If society is to be restored, God’s transcendent truth must be proclaimed, demonstrated and brought to bear on our society. Obviously, non-Christians are incapable of this. Jesus said that this was essential for the church–to be salt and light. Christians are failing Australia if they fail to stand up and be counted for God’s truth in all areas of society.

I am convinced that if pagan Australians understood the Judeo-Christian ethic and its influence in secular society they would seek it. The Kingdom of God has a dynamic influence in culture. It is left to us to be salt and light. Otherwise, it will continue to be a naked public square. Is that the kind of society you want to live in? What will you do about it?

2. Where Is the Church?

Crime and violence skyrocket; sexual promiscuity and venereal disease are rampant; the poor and homeless are marginal; who protects the unborn, the defective and the elderly? Day after day I deal with rebellious youth and disillusioned parents. Where is the church?

Remember what the Durants concluded: “There is no significant example in history before our time, of a society successfully maintaining moral life without the aid of religion.”

Charles Colson, in Kingdoms in Conflict, wrote:

“If the real benefits of the Judeo-Christian ethic and influence in secular society were understood, it would be anxiously sought out, even by those who repudiate the Christian faith. The influence of the Kingdom of God in the public arena is good for society as a whole.”[2]

But who will proclaim the Kingdom of God so that society understands the Christian ethic?

We are

A. “ASLEEP IN THE LIGHT”

Keith Green’s song is pointed right at the church:

Do you see, do you see,

All the people sinking down?

Don’t you care, don’t you care,

Are you gonna let them drown?

How can you be so numb

Not to care if they come?

You close your eyes

And pretend the job’s done…

The world is sleeping in the dark

That the church just can’t fight

‘Cause it’s asleep in the light.

How can you be so dead

When you’ve been so well fed?[3]

David Wilkerson agrees: “The church is asleep, the congregations are at ease… Its shepherds are mostly slumbering or chasing after their own dreams. Only the sleeping church could have allowed the abominations now poisoning it.”[4]

The moral madness in Australia is worsening. For non-Christians, life goes on as usual with few concerned. Almost nobody is alarmed. Apathy has overcome the culture and the church. But that won’t stop the judgment that is coming.

For Israel, it took a Lion’s roar through the true prophet, Amos. What will is take to awaken Australia’s Christians, let alone the culture? God has already given Christians His orders:

“And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to WAKE UP FROM YOUR SLUMBER, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here” (Romans 13:11-12).

It is time to wake up!!

John Anderson in his prophetic book, The Cry of Compassion, wrote:

“Spiritual and moral issues are too crucial; the destiny and care of immortal souls too consequential; and the health and direction of society too pivotal, for us to be inaccurate for any reason when delivering God’s message. The lawyer’s mistakes go to jail, the doctor’s mistakes go to the cemetery, but the minister’s mistakes go to hell!”[5]

B. WHAT HAS PUT THE CHURCH TO SLEEP?

Are we going to suffer the same fate as Israel? When Israel forgot God, He “gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease upon them” (Ps. 106:15).

I put it to you that some of these factors have anaesthetised us:

1. We are asleep because we have forsaken our first love and have courted materialism (live for the now).

2. It has put us asleep to spiritual reality as we have pursued pleasure (hedonism).

We would rather dump ourselves in front of the TV tube than be vigorously involved in the public debate to challenge our culture.

3 We have allowed our spiritual vitality to be sapped by accepting that in a pluralistic culture our Christianity becomes a private matter.

Christians have learned to shut their mouths.

4. We have also bought into pragmatism–what is good is what works.

5. Could is even be that we are practising Christianised secularism–living as though material things are more real than spiritual reality? What happens in time is more important than the events of eternity?

Think of your life over the last month! How much time, energy and money have you invested in pleasure and material things? How many times have you created opportunities to witness for Christ? When did you last challenge the ungodly actions of your community? How many in your church do the same thing?

6. Then add compromise.

The late singer-evangelist/prophet, Keith Green, would preach, “No token prayers, no compromise.” His message was for the church to quit compromising, stop listening to the voice of the world, and start living committed lives. He said Christians are too often

“tempted to bow to other`false gods’–to go with the crowd, to not speak out for what is right, to be ashamed of our convictions. So we compromise. We bow to invisible idols of acceptability, fear, pride, lust, greed and secret sin.”[6]

Keith sure had a pointed way of telling it like it is.

7. Have we spent quality time with God to hear His heart for a degenerate world?

John Anderson asks two penetrating questions that we need to consider:

a. Has the Church become secularised, accommodating the world instead of confronting it? Have we been seduced by today’s paganism?

b. Has the message of the Church become an echo instead of a voice?

I believe the church must take considerable responsibility for what is happening in our culture. The cruelty, depravity and apathy continue. The silent church lets it happen. Look what happened in Victoria recently when church leaders stood against Jeff Kennett!

What will it take for God to get the attention of a materialistic, wayward church that has lost its direction? For Israel, Amos 1:2 says, “The LORD roars…and thunders!!” God woke them through the prophet Amos.

We need:

C. THE RADICAL CHURCH

Through 20 centuries of the church, many of Christ’s followers have proclaimed and lived a wishy-washy form of his teachings. Christ’s demands for building a righteous society (Matt. 5:13-16) have been done away with. Too often, we are preaching dull faith that is concerned about what it will do for the person in meeting personal needs and offering personal benefits.

Like the person who said to me recently that he had come to Christ because he needed someone to help him deal with the stress and responsibilities following his father’s death. There was no mention made of sin, repentance and the cost of following Jesus. Too often the gospel is proclaimed as giving self-esteem to the lowly, instead of release for the captives and reconciliation with an angry God.

The central message of Christianity is radical. It cancels out sin and answers our most basic needs to know God, find salvation, find meaning and authority in life.

A person said to me the other day that she is considering Islam because it is a total way of life. That’s the radical nature of the church: Christ is to be the ultimate authority that a person requires. God is to rule every aspect of what He has created. Life, death, relationships and earthly kingdoms are all under His control.

Because of this total authority (Lordship), many non-Christians resent Christianity. We are commanded to “seek first the kingdom of God.” This means we are to seek to be ruled by God alone–voluntarily, of course. This means no employer or Prime Minister can have ultimate control of one’s life. Jesus alone is Lord!

1. The Church must be the Church

In the early years of Christianity, the barbarians were prevented from over-running Europe by the Church being the Church. The Gospel was proclaimed. Monastic communities were characterised by discipline, creativity, community spirit and moral sanity. The Scriptures were preserved, prayers were offer, land was cleared, towns built, crops planted and harvested, whole communities were cared for, education was developed and communities became literate, the underprivileged were sheltered, hospitals were opened–all in the name of Christ and the church.

The church challenged the value systems of the barbarians and the Roman Empire. This is what the church must do today. We must serve as examples of truth, decency and civilisation in a culture that is becoming dark. Although made up of redeemed sinners, what other institution except the church, has the capacity to challenge culture and witness to God’s transcendent standards of absolute justice and righteousness?

As Charles Colson states prophetically: the great paradox is that if the church is to do anything useful for culture and conquer the invaders who are aggressively promoting anti-Christian world views, it must “concentrate on being faithful to its identity in Jesus Christ. The church must be the church. That is its first duty.”[7]

To be this, the church must be committed to faithful proclamation of the gospel, biblical obedience and working for justice and righteousness (faithful to Matthew 25 and the prophetic exhortations of, for example, the Book of Amos).

We must not be motivated by our desire to make an impact on society, but by our desires to obey the Lord and please Him. Australia needs a church that will be a community of care, compassion and character. We have an obligation to proclaim the truth, act as salt and light, and hold Australia morally accountable to God. But it will take radical obedience.

The survival of Australia is dependent on the dynamic reform that will take place through redeemed individuals who will practise pure religion according to James 1:27: “Look after orphans and widows in their distress and keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” Is the church prepared to take up this challenge?

The church will only be the church when it is faithful to its holy God and obediently serves Him.

2. The Church is in need of healing

Labelling Christians can be dangerous and divisive. Too often the church is divided by doctrinal differences. We need to know the difference between breaking fellowship over essentials (e.g. the deity of Christ) and non-essentials. Liberals have been readily identified with social concern, while evangelicals are noted for their evangelism. This is labelling. The biblical mandate is that we should care compassionately about winning people to Christ, but also strive for the righteousness of God’s justice.

We need to be healed from the compromise that has seen the church embrace the world rather than expose its foolishness. Dare I suggest that one of the greatest instruments of seduction is the television set where the on/off switch is not used in a Christ-honouring way. Is David Wilkerson too radical when he says:

“The world is about to burn and its foundations shaken by the almighty hand of God, and Christians sit nonchalantly before their television idol, wasting precious time…sitting before [the] Babylonian idiot box, losing their zeal for God… Satan is succeeding through television in a way not possible by any other kind of demonic invasion… Television is now not innocent, not wholesome, and not worthy of the moral standard of a devoted lover of the Lord Jesus Christ…

God’s name is taken in vain, marriage and fidelity [are] scorned, religion is satirized, and holiness is jeered. Satan’s aim is to get the whole world, including Christians, to laugh at things holy and sacred. Even situation comedies mock morality; and all that is pure, honest, and Christian is ridiculed. How sad that Christians laugh at what should be making us weep. How dare we continue to drink in that which grieves and infuriates the Holy Spirit! Will we not be judged for it?”[8]

The world needs to be confronted by real Christianity. How can this happen if the church is not authentic? I pray that the healing of these divisions will become a priority.

3. The Old Testament Prophets Speak

The Old Testament prophets have been sadly neglected by many Christians. Yet, the writing prophets from Isaiah to Malachi consist of 17 of the Bible’s 66 books. We ignore them at our peril. They are strategic books because God was speaking to Israel, Judah and the nations of the world at crucial times–times like ours.

If Moses, the Israelites’ idolatry and sin, were “examples” for Christians to follow or not to follow (according to I Cor. 10:6, 11), might the prophets also be written for our example?

John Anderson believes

“the reason the prophets spoke as they did was because they knew Almighty God. They knew His Word and heart; they knew His holiness and His love; they hungered and thirsted for righteousness. They knew His voice and became His voice. They were motivated by the heart of God and their voices became cries of compassion to their world. Because they so knew God, they spoke in His Name to rebuke the sin around them, called for justice and righteousness, warned of judgment and pressed for repentance. They stood with God against the sinner’s sin, not the other way around.”[9]

God did not send prophets to tantalise the itching ears of the people with predictions of the future. They were sent to turn people back in repentance. There message was: “the Day of the Lord is coming. Be different, change, get ready.”

One of the prophets with a desperate message for Australia in the 1990s is Jeremiah.

A. JEREMIAH (CHAPTERS 2-6)

Here Jeremiah give the steps for Israel as it races towards God’s judgment.

1. Devotion to the Lord (2:1-3)

the goodness of God

2. Rejection of the Lord (2:13, 17, 19)

strayed (2:5)
followed other gods (2:11; 5:7)

3. Sinful actions

people defiled the land (2:7)
evil deeds have no limit (5:28)
pours out her wickedness (6:7)
wash, but stain of guilt remains (2:22)
rebellion and backsliding (2:20-3:5; 5:6)

4. Religious leaders backslide

ignored the Lord (2:8)
rebelled against Him (2:8)
prophesied lies }
ruled by own authority } 5:30-31
people loved it }
false prophets (2:8, 25)
preached peace, deceit (6:14)

A particularly devastating exposure of the motive, method and message of lying prophets is in Jer. 23:9-40. They were “godless” (v. 11), spread ungodliness throughout the land (v. 15), committed and supported wickedness like Sodom (v. 14), spoke “visions/delusions from their own minds” (vv. 16, 25). God did not speak to them (vv. 21-22). Their lying message was, “You will have peace… No harm will come to you” (v. 17). Like Jer. 6:14, they preached peace and deceit. However, the truth was: “the storm of the Lord will burst out in wrath… The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart” (vv. 19-20).

Let’s get back to the steps of a nation racing towards judgment:

5. Idolatry (2:5, 25; 3:1)

6. Judgment (4:12f, 18; 5:15; 6:26)

consequences of wickedness (2:19)
judgment threatened (2:35; 3:5)
wrath of God threatened (4:4, 8; 6:11)
tell it to the nations (4:16; 6:18-19)

Particularly note Jeremiah 10:10: “But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; The nations cannot endure his wrath”

Now back to the steps toward judgment:

7. Mercy (a plea to return to the Lord)

3:12-13, 22; 4:1-2

acknowledge guilt (3:13)

8. Watchmen (6:17) who sound the alarm

(4:5, 19; 6:1, 8)

of disaster
tell the nations (4:16)
warning (11:7-8)

9. Resistance to warning (5:21, 23; 6;10)

scoffed at the Lord and warning (5:12-13)

B. HOSEA (CHAPTER 4)

Here are the steps to God’s destruction, directed towards Israel.

1. [Previous devotion to God recorded elsewhere in OT]

2. Departure from the Lord (v. 1)

no faithfulness
no love
no acknowledgment of God in the land
destroyed by lack of knowledge (of God’s law)–v.6

3. Depravity in action (v. 2)

cursing
lying & murder
stealing & adultery
break all bounds (habit of sin is widespread)
bloodshed follows bloodshed [for us it’s abortion, infanticide, euthanasia]

[cf. punishment for sin: 9:7, 9]

4. Religious leaders stumble (vv. 5, 9)

“like people, like priests” (v. 9)

5. Idolatry (vv. 10-18)

[cf. 8:4-5, 7; 9:10]

6. Destruction (v. 19)

[cf. ch. 5; 7:13; 10:5-6; 12:2; 13:7-9]

7. Warning of disaster (5:1)

sound the alarm (8:1)
watchmen (9:8; 11:10; 12:6)

8. Mercy (plea to return to the Lord)

[6:1, 3, 6; 10:12; 11:8; 14:1-2, 4]

repentance (11:5)

9. Resistance (7:10, 13; 14:2)

Hosea, a contemporary of Amos, gave the last word from God to Israel. He warned that there would be dreadful days when they were captured by Assyria (see especially 11:1-9 of Hosea). This devastation came in 722 BC “because they refuse[d] to repent” (11:5). This is a dreadful warning to any country that continues in idolatry, gross sinfulness and rejection of the one living, true God.

In commenting on Hosea chapter 4, James Montgomery Boice, asks:

“What happens when a people reject God? What happens when we turn our back on such knowledge? The answer is that we begin a downhill course. God is the source of all good. So if an individual or people will not have God, they will have the opposite in increasing measure.“[10]

Is that what we are having in Australia? From Jeremiah and Hosea, a definite pattern develops when a nation forgets and rebels against God. It is a slippery slope towards judgment that is as certain as God is sovereign.

C. THE PATTERN OF DECLINE IN ANY NATION

1. Devotion

2. Departure

3. Decadence

4. Destruction (Judgment)

5. Desire (of God to extend mercy)

6. Disaster Warning

7. Deafness (Resistance)

A similar pattern for non-Christians can be found in:

D. ROMANS 1:18-2:5

1. God’s warning of wrath (v. 18)

We must make it clear that God’s wrath (anger) does not mean that he gets irritable, is bad-tempered, or is unpredictable. God’s anger is an essential quality in his character. It

“describes the controlled and permanent opposition of God’s holy nature to all sin. Such opposition to sin on God’s part is not a whim or a mere decision or occasional mood, but the reaction of his perfect holy nature to sin. Anger, then, is as essential to the nature of God as is love; without anger God would not be God.”[11]

Or, as Godet puts it, God’s wrath is his “moral indignation in all its purity…holy antipathy…without the slightest alloy of personal irritation, or selfish resentment.”[12]

2. God’s revelation of himself (vv. 19-20)

3. People rejected God (v. 21)

4. Sinful thinking and hearts (v. 21)

5. Idolatry (v. 23)

6. Gross sinfulness (vv. 24-25)

7. Judgment through sinful consequences

(vv. 26-32)

8. God’s wrath poured out (2:2-5, esp. v. 5)

In both Jeremiah and Hosea, the religious leaders turned away from God and contributed to the destruction of the nation. Could this be happening in Australia?

What, then, is needed in the church? For a nation heading towards judgment, we need Christians who will “put the trumpet to [their] lips” (Hos. 8:1), give the Lord’s roar (Hos. 11:10) that “you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always” (Hos. 12:6).

Both Jeremiah (6:17) and Hosea (9:8) call such a person

The Watchman

He/she is to sound the alarm that judgment is coming, unless we repent. See also Ezekiel 3. Individuals and the nation are to be warned (Jer. 4:16; 10:10).

The watchman’s job was to sit on the wall of an ancient city and alert the people of the city to any coming danger. From Ezekiel, we understand that if the people heard the warning, but ignored it, they suffered the consequences–the blood would be “on their own head.”

However, if the watchman was asleep and didn’t warn the people of the approaching danger, it was the watchman’s fault if they were harmed, and the blood of the people would be on the watchman’s hands. The watchman would be held accountable.

I believe the application is that certain Christians are watchmen. God wants us to warn people and this country that disaster is coming. If we continue to reject God, indulge in idolatry and depravity, God’s judgment is coming. The issue is not WHETHER but WHEN and HOW.

There are two sides to God’s judgment. Repent or perish! As Gary North puts it:

“The rude awakening is coming. It always does. Men cannot go to sleep at the wheel indefinitely. There will be an accident. Or more accurately, there will be a nasty result. You cannot expect civilization to sleep at the wheel forever, with the engine running at top speed, and not crash. Such crashes are hardly accidents.”[13]

Australia urgently needs a church that will announce the coming crisis.

WE NEED A SCHOOL OF THE PROPHETS WHO WILL BE WATCHMEN AND WATCH-WOMEN!

Notes:

[1]In Charles Colson, Kingdoms in Conflict. Sydney: Hodder & Stoughton, 1987, pp. 225, 229.

[2]Ibid., p. 231.

[3]In Melody Green & David Hazard, No Compromise: The Life Story of Keith Green. Milton Keynes, England: Word Publishing, 1989, p.189.

[4]David Wilkerson, Set the Trumpet to Thy Mouth. Lindale, Texas: World Challenge, Inc., (PO Box 260, Lindale, Texas 75771), 1985, p. 108.

[5]John O. Anderson, The Cry of Compassion: The Church’s Needed Voice in Today’s World. Klamath Falls, Oregon: John O. Anderson (PO Box 152, Klamath Falls, OR 97601, USA), 1992, p. 81, emphasis added.

[6]Green & Hazard, p. 187.

[7]Charles Colson, Against the Night, p. 135.

[8]David Wilkerson, Set The Trumpet to They Mouth, pp. 53 60.

[9]Emphasis added, John O. Anderson, The Cry of Compassion, p. xv.

[10]James Montgomery Boice, The Minor Prophets, Volume 1: Hosea-Jonah. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Ministry Resources Library, Zondervan Publishing House, 1983, p. 38.

[11]Eryl Davies, Condemned Forever. Hertfordshire, England: Evangelical Press, 1987. p. 75.

[12]In John Anderson, The Cry of Compassion, p. 100.

[13]Gary North, Backward Christian Soldiers. Tyler, Texas: Institute for Christian Economics, 1984, p. 56.

What gets your attention?

Image result for clipart Attention

(image courtesy Kathleen Halme)

By Spencer D Gear

For some, it may be the death of a relative, but for others it may be something stated or given by another. When I was told in 1973 that my 57-year-old Christian father had died from a heart attack, it sure got my attention about life-after-death and the need to be in close relationship with my parents and my heavenly Father.

Today two things gained my attention and they came from different and unusual sources. This is what struck me:

1. There is no difference in behaviour between Christians and unbelievers.

In 2004, the George Barna Research Group in the USA, a cultural analysis company, conducted research that indicated

that people’s faith does not make as much of as difference as might be expected – especially among non-evangelical born again Christians. Based on a national survey that related people’s faith and 19 lifestyle activities that might be expected to be affected by faith views, the report concludes that two groups – Christian evangelicals and those without a faith preference (i.e., atheists and agnostics) are those that stand out from the crowd.[1]

Who are these “non-evangelical born again Christians” who don’t act much differently to non-believers. Barna describes this type of Christian this way:

Non-evangelical born again adults have accepted Christ as their saviour but do not necessarily accept the Bible as completely accurate in its teachings, accept a personal responsibility to share their faith with others, cite their faith as very important in their life, believe that Jesus Christ was holy, believe that God is the Creator who continues to rule the universe today, or believe that Satan is not symbolic but truly exists. This segment constitutes about one-third of the national adult population [in the USA].[2]

In fact, Barna goes so far as to say that non-evangelical born again people are “more similar to notional Christians (i.e., people who consider themselves Christian but have not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior) and to adherents of other faiths (such as Islam, Buddhism and Scientology) than to evangelical Christians.”[3]

Therefore, the group of “Christians” whose behaviour varies little from non-Christians and those of other religions, are those who have “accepted Christ as their savior” but who reject major biblical doctrines such as:

the authority and infallibility of Scripture,
the need for them to engage in evangelism;
acknowledging faith as important in their lives;
the attributes of Jesus such as His holiness;
the character of God as creator and ruler of the universe; and
the literal existence of Satan.

These are fundamentals of biblical faith, but these born again, non-evangelicals cannot accept them. Does this then mean that this group is not genuinely Christian? What is it that makes the difference in behaviour between Christians and unbelievers?

George Barna found that that this radically different behaviour belonged to a group of only 7% of the adult USA population that he described as

the group whose faith is most clearly evident in their behavioral choices. The survey divided the population into five faith segments (evangelicals, non-evangelical born again Christians, notional Christians, adherents of non-Christian faiths, and atheists/agnostics). Evangelicals emerged as the group most likely to do each of the following:

discuss spiritual matters with other people
volunteer at a church or non-profit organization
discuss political matters with other people
discuss moral issues and conditions with others
stop watching a television program because of its values or viewpoints
go out of their way to encourage or compliment someone.[4]

The conclusion Barna reached from this survey was

that many Christians are hard-pressed to convert their beliefs into action. “The ultimate aim of belief in Jesus is not simply to possess divergent theological ideas but to become a transformed person. These statistics highlight the fact that millions of people who rely on Jesus Christ for their eternal destiny have problems translating their religious beliefs into action beyond Sunday mornings.”[5]

The George Barna Research Group describes “born again” Christians in the USA this way (The Barna Group 2008):

Definition

In Barna Research Group studies, born again Christians are not defined on the basis of characterizing themselves as “born again” but based upon their answers to two questions. The first is “have you ever made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in your life today?” If the respondent says “yes,” then they are asked a follow-up question about life after death. One of the seven perspectives a respondent may choose is “when I die, I will go to Heaven because I have confessed my sins and have accepted Jesus Christ as my savior.” Individuals who answer “yes” to the first question and select this statement as their belief about their own salvation are then categorized as “born again.”

Beliefs

Compared to 72% of all adults, 92% of born again Christians believe “the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches.” (2007)
Three-quarters of born again Christians (74%) believe they “personally have a responsibility to tell other people their religious beliefs” compared to 52% of all adults. (2007)
Nearly all born again Christians (99%) say their religious faith is very important in their life, compared to 87% of all adults. (2007)
Half of born again Christians (46%) agree that Satan is “not a living being but is a symbol of evil.” (2007)
37% of born agains believe that if a person is good enough they can earn a place in Heaven. (2007)
26% of born agains agree that “while he lived on earth, Jesus committed sins, like other people,” compared to 41% of all adults. (2007)
Born again Christians are more likely than non-born again individuals to accept moral absolutes. Specifically, 36% of born agains said they believe in moral absolutes, compared to just 16% among non-born agains. (2006)

How Many

Looking across the past decade we find the following percentages of born again Christians: 2007 – 42% 2006 – 45% 2005- 40% 2004-38% 2002-40% 2001- 41% 2000- 41% 1999- 40% 1998- 39% 1997- 43% 1996-39% 1995-35% 1994- 36% 1993-36% 1992- 40% 1991- 35%

There are approximately 101 million born again Christians in the USA. (2006)

The Barna Update (21 July 2008) briefly defines this differentiation among Christians:

“Born again Christians” are defined as people who said they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today and who also indicated they believe that when they die they will go to Heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. Respondents are not asked to describe themselves as “born again.”

“Evangelicals” meet the born again criteria (described above) plus seven other conditions. Those include saying their faith is very important in their life today; believing they have a personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs about Christ with non-Christians; believing that Satan exists; believing that eternal salvation is possible only through grace, not works; believing that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; asserting that the Bible is accurate in all that it teaches; and describing God as the all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect deity who created the universe and still rules it today. Being classified as an evangelical is not dependent upon church attendance or the denominational affiliation of the church attended. Respondents were not asked to describe themselves as “evangelical.”

Non-evangelical born again Christians meet the born again criteria described above, but not the evangelical criteria.

Notional Christians are those who consider themselves to be Christian but do not meet the not born again criteria.

2. “Be holy as I am holy”

There is a book that is making the rounds of our house to different rooms as my wife, Desley, reads it. I’m speaking of C. H. Spurgeon’s, Twelve Sermons on Holiness.[6] This sounds like a forbidden subject in many Christian circles in the 21st century. A hundred years ago it was being addressed openly by prominent preachers. I’m also thinking of J. C. Ryle’s, A Call to Holiness.[7]

References

The Barna Group 2008, “Born again Christians,” available from: http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=Topic&TopicID=8 [cited 1 February 2009].

The Barna Group, The Barna Update, 21 July 2008, “Survey reveals the life Christians desire,” available from: http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=303 [cited 1 February 2009].

Endnotes

[1] The Barna Group, 24 May 2004, “Faith Has a Limited Effect On Most People’s Behavior,” available from: http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=164 [cited 5 February 2009].

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Reiner Publications, Swengel, Pa, n.d.

[7] Evangelical Press, Welwyn, Hertfordshire, 1976.

Why I left the Seventh-Day Adventist Church

Related image

(courtesy Catholicsay.com)

Prepared by Spencer D Gear

A friend of mine (I’m Spencer Gear) left the Seventh Day Adventist Church (SDA) a number of years ago and is now fellowshipping with and engaged in ministry in an evangelical Christian church.

Here he has kindly agreed to summarise why he left the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. He wrote to me:

It has been my policy since our exodus from Adventism, to leave them to their own devices for the simple reason that you cannot have a logical discussion with them. They do not answer to the point (as you have now experienced in your debates on a Christian Forum on the Internet) and this is simply because they have “set” (stereotyped) answers provided for them, to meet the challenges put to them, and they seem to hand out these responses whether they fit or not! The brainwashing that goes on within their organisation has hardened their hearts to such an extent that they truly believe they are right, and that everybody else is wrong.

In my sojourn of 15 years with them, I found that what they say to their prospective converts can be totally different to what they really believe. Walter Martin so rightly said of SDAs that they “speak out of both sides of their mouth”. All I am prepared to say to an SDA at this moment can be summarised as my six solid reasons for leaving the SDA organisation.

My friend gave his reasons for leaving the SDA church:

Reason 1

I am not a Seventh-day Adventist because I am convinced that Jesus Christ was sinless. I could never believe in the Adventist statement that Christ inherited a sinful nature. God’s word clearly says, “And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). They are trying to discredit the Lord Jesus here.

Reason 2

I am not a Seventh-day Adventist because God’s word tells me that our Lord Jesus Christ paid the full price for the sins of the whole world by victoriously completing his atonement on Calvary’s cross. I could never believe in the Adventist teaching of an incomplete atonement. How subtle and evil to use the name of Jesus as a convenient come on to those who want to believe, and then dishonour and discredit him by nullifying his redemptive power in this manner.

Reason 3

I am not a Seventh-day Adventist because I cannot accept their teaching that when Jesus ascended into heaven, he had to stand around in an imaginary ante-room in heaven for 1800 years at which time the Adventists were given the commission to preach to the rest of the world! This is indeed a most hideous unbiblical bigoted and revolting doctrine, and an insult to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. My Bible tells me that Jesus went straight into the presence of God and sat at His right hand.

James & Ellen White (image courtesy Wikipedia)

Reason 4

I am not a Seventh-day Adventist because of their negative teaching that we can never be certain that we are saved, until the second coming of Jesus, at which time we will be judged whether or not we are saved. This is just the opposite to what my Bible tells me. God’s word assures us that we know that we have eternal life. (1 John 5:13). Also, there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. (Rom 8:1)

Reason 5

I am not a Seventh-day Adventist because their belief system is built on a combination of truth and error. They deceive people into believing they are God’s exclusive channel of truth. This is undoubtedly a mark of a Cult, but how they accomplish this is interesting. Extensive interpretations and explanations by Ellen White twist the meaning of Scripture to uphold their denominational claims. For example, the account of the thief on the cross in Luke 23:43 has been altered in their Bible teaching by the shifting of a comma as follows:

A	Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in Paradise.
B	Verily I say unto thee today, shalt thou be with me in Paradise.

Please note how the shifting of the comma gives an entirely different meaning to the sentence. Note: being the normal KJV text and being the Adventist alteration. This is done to support their teaching on the state of the dead (Soul Sleep). As the Mormons have their own Bible (The Book of Mormon) and the J.W.s have theirs (The New World Bible), Seventh-day Adventists have the Clear Word Bible where they have added over 300 words. Adventists accuse Mormons and J.Ws of mutilating the Bible, but what Adventists have done to the Scriptures is incredible.

Reason 6

I am not a Seventh-day Adventist because I believe the Lord’s Day as acknowledged by the entire Christian world is the appropriate day for celebrating, remembering and honouring our Lord Jesus Christ’s resurrection and ascension into heaven. Nowhere in the Bible does it state that Christians should keep the Jewish 7th day as the day of worship, but God’s word clearly clearly tells us that the early Church began meeting on the first day of the week. Despite this overwhelming Biblical and historical evidence, Adventists have misconstrued the Bible, claiming that Christians should observe the Old Covenant practice of Sabbath keeping. They defy God’s word which clearly states that the New Covenant superseded the old. To add insult to injury, Adventist Prophetess Ellen White insists that Sunday keepers will receive the Mark of the Beast. They find it next to impossible now to cover up the insane statements made by Ellen White.

Reason 7

Finally, I am not a Seventh-day Adventist because their system was conceived in error and structured on a multitude of presumptions and falsehoods. Founded upon William Miller’s two failed predictions that Christ’s second coming would take place in 1843 and 1844 respectively, Ellen White accredited and continued the work which was finally called the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Their Fundamental beliefs were greatly influenced by her visions, supposed to be from God, but afterwards found to be questionable and hidden away in a vault. Thank God for His precious word with which I have confounded Adventism!

James Springer White, SDA pioneer (image courtesy Wikipedia)

See this excellent study of Ellen G. White’s writings vs the Bible to show where the SDA founder, Ellen White, departs from the Bible in her teaching.

Praise the Lord! What a wonderful Saviour is Jesus my Lord!