Jesus: His Way or Ours? 3/20/22

In our society, we have become entitled in our thinking that everything should be our way. This has even overflowed into our approach to the Bible and the truth about who God is.It has become popular to take the truth of the gospel (Christ’s life, sacrifice, death and resurrection) and formulate it to be about how it can best serve me and about what we can have our way.

The danger becomes then, that scripture isn’t so much about how it points me to Christ but about how it can best suit my thinking.And so we begin to move away from the true intention of Scripture (pointing us to Christ) and begin to adapt it to what we want it to say or what we think it should say.

This is the same problem that those individuals faced on the first Palm Sunday when Jesus entered into Jerusalem.

Jesus: His Way or Ours? sermon audio

The Gospel Transforms

In this message I talked about the significance of the conjunction “but” in Scripture. It’s important to take notice because the word “but” cancels out the  statement that precedes it. For example in Ephesians 2:1-8 Paul writes:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ² in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³ among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. ⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

The word “but” in this passage separates our former life from our new life in Christ.

Here is a helpful article that deals with this in greater detail:

But God

Also I talked about the fact that all acts of God in our life are supernatural events. Here is an article that goes into more detail on that subject:

All Christian Ministry Is Supernatural

Here is a quote that I thought about using from C.S.Lewis but ultimately decided that it didn’t flow with the message. However it does point to the truth that being spiritual does not change your life. Only the Gospel of Jesus Christ can transform.

                  “The sins of the flesh are bad, but they are the least bad of all sins. All the worst pleasures are purely spiritual: the pleasure of putting other people in the wrong, of bossing and patronising and spoiling sport, and back-biting; the pleasures of power, of hatred. For there are two things inside me, competing with the human self which I must try to become. They are the Animal self, and the Diabolical self. The Diabolical self is the worse of the two. That is why a cold, self-righteous prig who goes regularly to church may be far nearer to hell than a prostitute. But, of course, it is better to be neither.”

C. S. Lewis

And finally, here is the link to Sunday’s message

The Gospel Transforms

No Other Gospel

In this message I referenced “5 False Gospels” that are infiltrating the church, which were from  The Church in Babylon: Heeding the Call to Be a Light in the Darkness by Erwin W. Lutzer (©2018). Below is a link to an article that goes into more detail and was helpful to me.

5 False Gospels in the Church Today and How to be Faithful

Below is a link to the sermon audio for the message titled “No Other Gospel” from Galatians 1:1-10

Central Baptist Resources

As you can probably tell it’s been a while since I have blogged here at this site. A lot has happened in just the last year alone not to mention the 4 years since I last published a post. 

My current situation is that I am no longer pastoring at Living Water Baptist Church in Connelly Springs, NC. In fact, the church is no longer a church. Some say it was a victim of Covid and the shutdowns but honestly I believe in the providence of the Lord. I currently pastor at Central Baptist Church in Lenoir, NC. I have been there almost a year and am excited about the growth I am seeing among God’s people there as well as in myself. It has been quite a process learning to pastor more than 5 people! 

At the request of several of our members I began recording my sermons at the beginning of October as I began in the book of Galatians. I am posting the sermon audio as well as other helpful links over at a page I created specifically for our church.

You can keep up with me there at  centralbaptist1938.wordpress.com

When Parenting isn’t Perfect

Jim Daly is a man that I have grown to respect through his work at Focus on the Family. So I was excited to read this book on parenting.

Parenting is not for the faint of heart. It takes commitment, dedication, and discipline. It’s too easy to sit the kids in front of the TV, phone or tablet and let them babysit our children. At the same time, it’s also easy to be legalistic, overbearing and prohibitive. If only it were easy to have the perfect balance, then you could be the perfect parent. But as Daly points out in this book, there are no perfect parents and striving for perfection can leave us empty and drive our children away. So, what Daly has hoped to accomplish through this book, is not to tell us how to be perfect parents but how to parent in spite of our imperfections.

Too often we quote Proverbs 22:6 and use it as a proof text that if we raise our kids the best we know how, when they are older, after they settle down they too can become just like we want them too. But the point of that verse is to raise children according to their personalities, drives and abilities. To equip them to function as God has wired them, not as we think they should be and that is essentially what Daly advocates for in this book.

So, through personal illustrations and helpful guidelines, Daly explains how perfection is the enemy of parenting and laughing, talking and connecting with your kids is what is truly important. He also encourages us to embrace the messiness of parenting. We’re not always going to get it right, and our children will not always respond as they should but what we need to learn as parents is that kids just want us to be present and not perfect.

No matter what stage of parenting you may find yourself in, this book is a helpful and needful reminder that God’s grace is a perfect example to follow in our parenting and Daly does a good job of explaining how.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Gospel According to Paul

I have been a fan of John MacArthur for more than 20 years. I don’t know if “fan” is the correct term to use but whatever he writes or whenever he speaks, I find myself drawn to reading and listening what he produces. As with everyone, I don’t know that I necessarily agree with his opinions on everything but when it comes to expositing the Word of God, I believe him to be a trusted source. Needless to say, I was excited to receive a copy of John MacArthur’s newest book The Gospel According to Paul from Nelson Books. I was given a copy of his book The Gospel According to Jesus about five years ago, and it helped me immensely in my understanding of Jesus’ ministry shown in the gospels.
After a lengthy introduction and a brief history on Paul’s life before Christ, through seven chapters, MacArthur walks the reader through the principles of the Gospel from Paul’s life and letters.
As only MacArthur can do, it’s easy to get bogged down in all of the information presented in each chapter. If there’s one thing that MacArthur does well it’s giving you more information then you thought you could ever know about something. It’s that thoroughness that separates MacArthur’s books and sermons from everyone else.
As he begins in the first chapter, he outlines what the gospel is, walking the reader through Scripture, before pointing out our condition and need for the gospel in chapter 2. For chapters 3 and 4, he tackles the issue of faith and works and what our responsibility is in believing the gospel. Chapter 5 deals with the cross and Christ’s atoning work and transitions in chapter 6 to our reward based on Christ’s death and resurrection. He closes out his main body of work in chapter 7 with an instruction on grace: what it is and what it isn’t.
Again this is a very thorough work on the gospel and quite different from its predecessor The Gospel According to Jesus. There were times when I felt like I was reading the longest gospel tract in history but at other times I found myself engrossed in the topic at hand because of the insight I was gaining.
I may be a bit biased because of my appreciation for John MacArthur and the help that his teaching has been over the years but this new book The Gospel According to Paul would make a fantastic tool for small groups and even personal study.

 

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Search for Power

 It’s a natural tendency for individuals to rely on their own strength and power when it comes accomplishing the task set before them. This is never more true for pastors and ministry leaders who have been tasked with shepherding the flock of Jesus Christ. The problem with that is, as pastors and ministry leaders, we’re not supposed to rely on our own strength and power. We’re to rely on the strength and power of the Holy Spirit. So there is always this struggle between doing what I want and think verses allowing the Holy Spirit to lead and guide in all directions.

This is the focus of The Way of the Dragon or The Way of the Lamb by Jamin Goggin and Kyle Strobel.

By interviewing “sages” of the faith like Eugene Peterson and J.I. Packer,  and using James 3:13-18 as a guide, they outline the need for wisdom that comes from above, versus worldly wisdom that comes from below. The advice and wisdom that they share in this book is nothing new but is still an area of importance that needs to be focused on because of our human tendency to look to culture as the standard instead of Jesus Christ.

I was reminded many times through the reading of this book of the beatitudes that Jesus taught on the Sermon of the mount and how effective they can be for impacting the world around us.

The underlying truth throughout this book is that Jesus is to be our model in every aspect of our lives. And Goggin and Strobel do a good job of painting a biblical picture of how power is possible through weakness. All in all, this book is a challenge precisely because it asks us to give up all the temptations of worldly power for the power of the cross.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

When Good isn’t Good Enough

I’ve followed the ministry of Pastor Bryan Loritts since his days at Fellowship Memphis and I was excited to hear of his new book, “Saving the Saved.” As the son of pastor Dr. Crawford Loritts, Bryan grew up in the church surrounded by the culture that so many church people grew up in.

With that background in mind Bryan addresses an issue that is rampant throughout the “churched” culture. The issue is, is that our security and salvation is tied up or contingent upon our morally based choices and behavior. That somehow, we must earn God’s favor and our position before Him.

In Saving the Saved Bryan confronts the performance based beliefs that so many “church people” hold onto so dearly using the gospel of Matthew as a guideline and backdrop for what God’s message truly is. In this book, he leads the reader through what goodness isn’t as well as what goodness is and looks like. But unlike many books, he doesn’t stop there. He offers practical everyday application on what it looks like to live free in the security of a relationship of Jesus Christ.

Through humorous anecdotes and personal recollections Bryan shares the transition from merit-based religion to life changing freedom that can only come from the good news that we are free in Christ and loved not based on our doing but by God’s choosing.

This book is a great book for the individual or for use by a small group and even for congregations.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

 

The Color Coded Bible

I have been given the opportunity to review the Color Coded Bible (NKJV) by Thomas Nelson. I have seen many color coded bibles before but what sets this one apart is that it is for kids. This particular Bible uses a simple method of assigning colors to seven different topics or themes throughout Scripture.

My initial thought, before I received my copy, is that the Bible would be color coded throughout. But when I received my copy, I learned that there are only 1600 verses that are color coded.  This isn’t a bad thing; I was just expecting more.

What was surprising was the different Bible reading plans and index references categorized to help you find passages related to certain topics.

All in all this is a great beginners Bible for an older child to pre-teen. I am very pleased with my copy.

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Doubter’s Guide to the Ten Commandments

In some form or way, everyone is familiar with at least a few of the Ten Commandments. Thou shalt not steal, kill and commit adultery. But after those, things begin to get a bit hazy. Cleanliness is next to godliness, God helps those who helps themselves, and treat others like you want to be treated, are next on the list. Then you have those who refuse to believe or acknowledge that the Ten Commandments are even relevant to our time and place in this culture.
In this book, A Doubter’s Guide to the Ten Commandments, Australian theologian and scholar, John Dickson, takes a look at the ten commandments given to Moses and to show how they have affected western thought. He takes into account the fact that not everyone believes the Bible but he makes a great argument for how we all abide by these commandments in some form or fashion.
This book is a great laymen’s introduction to the topic of apologetics, starting where we all start, with the basics. There are plenty of insights and topics that would make this a great book for small groups as well as for the individual seeking to deepen their understanding on why we believe what we do.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”