Liberal Theology

Liberal theology. Ring any bells with you? Liberal theology was an attempt to join the bible to Darwinian evolution. It was an attempt to make the biblical record match our current understanding of the natural world through science. It regards traditional faith as old fashioned and archaic and out of date. Liberal theology feels that faith is ever evolving and it must adapt to the current world view.

Liberal theology puts the emphasis on reason and personal experiences. It is changing the accepted doctrines into ones that the world will find acceptable. In liberal theology there are no absolutes. 

One thing liberal theology uses is higher criticism of the scriptures. They dissect the text and then when they put it back together it means something different. They spend a lot of time on the who and where and when of the biblical narrative and dismiss the essence of truth.

Show me a Christian who believes in evolution and I will show you a follower of liberal theology. Show me a Christian who does not believe in miracles and I will show you someone who follows liberal theology. Show me someone who wants to Christianize the world and I will show you someone who follows liberal theology.

Christianity is not a set of ethics and good ideas. It is God with us, the hope of glory. We will never impress this present evil world or get it  to accept our theology.

Let God be true, and every man a liar.

Thanks

 I wanted to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who stops by to look at or to read what I write here. I am just a man who has been saved a very long time and who has been through many trials of life. While I may not be in any official capacity in church, I have been paying attention and listening for many years and along the way I have learned a few things.

I figured out how to get comments to show finally. Feel free to comment anytime. As long as you follow my blog you can comment.

So God bless y'all and God bless His words. From my heart to yours, I bid you, adieu.

Judgement Has Begun

 "For the time is come that judgement must begin at the house of God. And if it first begins at us, what shall the end be of those who do not obey the gospel of God?" 1Peter 4:17

As time goes on, it becomes clear that those who have remained still have needs to be dealt with by the Bible. We have not arrived at a state of sinless perfection yet. Just because you have been saved a long time does not mean you are perfect.

Judgement here is applying the word of God to our lives on a regular basis. It doesn't necessarily mean hard or harsh preaching, though that might be needed from time to time. It does require a steady dose of the whole council of God. We need the washing of water by the word often. We need the sprinkling of His precious blood regularly

The Bible warns that if God judges us who are saved, let not the unsaved think that they will escape. The world and all who are in it will be judged by the same standards as us, yet without the covering God provides to us in Christ. The nations will be judged. Backsliders and rebels will be judged. No one gets a free pass. God is the righteous judge.

"And as it is appointed unto men to die once, but after this the judgement." Heb.9:27

So if you hear a sermon that cuts to the bone, thank God. He has not left you alone. He has not cut you off to wallow in your sin.

Unity Is Important

 "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." Psalm 133:1

Unity is a simple word that is easily misunderstood. And yet in a church it is a vital quality that makes what we do as a church work. Being of one mind about doctrine. Being of one mind in vision. All working toward the same goal and aiming at a common target.

Psalm 133 says that unity is like ointment. For us that means the oil of the Spirit. Unity is what allows the Holy Spirit to move and to work in our midst. Without the moving of the Holy Spirit we are just a religious club.

Psalm 133 also says that unity is like the dew. This speaks of blessing. The blessing of God comes upon a church that is unified in heart, mind, and spirit.

Our text says that unity is good and pleasant. It is a desirable quality to have.

Where does unity come from? First, it comes from our pastor. He has a plan. He has a vision. He has a revelation. When we buy into his plan and vision we are in unity. Second, it becomes real when the church stands behind it's pastor and supports him and gives to support their church. Money is a sure sign of unity.

I know that not everyone who sits in a seat at our church is in agreement with what we do. They think that they are right and that we are wrong. They think that they have a better idea. But, as long as unity outweighs stupidity we will see God's favor and blessing upon our church. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, even if it's wrong.

Pray for your pastor that he will have the mind of God in every decision.

Music Or Ministry?

 Remember the worship wars? Back when Christian music stopped being a ministry and became big business? Back when worship music was being played on the radio? The struggle was between the traditionalists who loved God, and the CCM world who loved the worldly business of making music.

It was no surprise that once ministry music crossed over in the secular music business that the message would be diluted and the ministry would be replaced with making money. Using secular recording studios and using worldly musicians and following a worldly program for promoting their music to CHINO radio stations and religious book stores guaranteed that music and ministry would be replaced by profits and promotion.

Pastor Mitchell did not allow his musicians to follow the dream of success as a musician. He insisted that it was discipleship and evangelism and preaching that was God's plan for a local church. He allowed bands to do outreaches, but he did not allow bands to make records. Pastor Mitchell was dogmatic in making sure that bands were Christian not only in name but in lifestyle and in character.

"And the world passes away, and the lust thereof, but he that does the will of God abides forever." 1John 2:17

While CCM went after the lust of the world, we went after winning souls for Jesus Christ.

Those Who Leave

"They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us; but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us." 1John 2:19

We work hard to get people in through the front door. We outreach, we advertise, we witness, we invite, trying to get people into our church. And it works. People from all walks of life and from various backgrounds all gathered under one roof to worship and to serve the Lord Jesus Christ.

From time to time we get people who find it impossible to stay with us and they leave. Some leave quietly, some leave in a riot of accusations. And we fret over those who leave. We want people to have what we have and to live how we live. And sometimes this just doesn't work.

Pastors sometimes do not work out. Some get moved, some are brought home, and some just quit and walk away from all they know and understand. Some go back to sin, others just waste away in the wilderness of despair.

The Bible says that those who leave become antichrist when they leave in a huff. Antichrist is a unique person in Bible prophecy. But the spirit of antichrist is active in the world today. Leaving is often one way to identify and to recognize these people.

Not everyone who attends our church is like us. Not everyone has been born again and filled with the Spirit. Not everyone is a disciple of Christ. They have put Jesus in their bag just in case. But they know nothing of the life of God in Christ.

Nothing takes God by surprise. The Lord knows those who are His. And He knows those who are Christian in name only.

One Thing To Do

 "...this one thing I do..." Phil.3:13

God is so big, so vast in scope, so enormous in power and wisdom. We cannot in our finite minds comprehend God at all. He holds the universe in the palm of His hand. He calls all of the stars by name. When God helped Job overcome his pride God reminded Job of who He is. He is God, you are not.

God has given us as the local church one job to do. He did not give us hundreds of tasks or thousands of opportunities. He gave us one job. To preach the Gospel is why we are here. Not to worship, not to serve, not to minister, but to preach. Everything else that we do must tie in to our reason for being. We cannot allow ourselves to be distracted or turned aside to other things.

What do churches do when the main thing is no longer the main thing? They open schools and hospitals. They run food banks. They get into partisan politics. And often they fall into false doctrine and idolatry.

Having guardrails or constraints keeps us on track and keeps us from falling off the cliff. This is why we have conferences. Not just to plant churches. But to help pastors and evangelists stay on course. 

Every church service does not need to be a conference service. We need the whole council of God and all of the gospel preached and taught to us on a regular basis. But we also need a regular and sustained outreach ministry to get the gospel out where it can work. For years in Prescott the Door was the concert venue where we preached the gospel every weekend. Pastor Mitchell did not have to preach on evangelism very often. We were too busy evangelizing to need it!

As the years roll on, it can be hard to stay focused. Especially if the results are not as exciting as they once were. This is not a time to change direction. This is a time to be obedient to our heavenly calling. We plant, we water, and we trust that God will give the increase.