boulet2u's Xanga

Fearfully and Wondfully Made!

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 07:16:12 GMT

The Psalmist praised the Lord that he was fearfully and wonderfully made. Our God is a creative genius. Let me illustrate it for you. There is not 1 part of your body that you can see that was there 10 years ago. All the cells in your body have been replaced by new cells through the process of mitosis – cell reproduction (except for nerve cells and brain cells, which are never replaced) That is true of all of us, so that if your wife says “your not the man I married 10 years ago..” You can say… “You’re right!” Our bodies replace cells a bit slower as we age, especially in our bones, but they continue to replace themselves.

The question that might come to your mind is, why do the new cells look exactly like the old ones? Why don’t my eyes change color? Why don’t I grow 10 inches with the new cells? Why the same nose, same facial features, same fingerprints, etc.?

The answer is DNA, Deoxyribonucleic Acid. This is a polymer molecule (a large molecule made up of smaller molecules) located in each cell nucleus that determines its makeup. Within every DNA molecule is over one hundred thousand genes. DNA is estimated to contain instructions that, if written out, would fill 1 thousand books of 600 pages each. A muscle cell might operate according to instructions from volume 27 and a kidney cell according to instructions from volume 789, but each cell has the whole DNA. The RNA within each cell tells it what part of the DNA instructions that each individual cell should operate according to! Every cell of every person has their personal DNA, and everyone’s is completely different. If you have ever watched an episode of CSI, you already know this; it is called our genetic finger print.

DNA looks like a long spiral staircase, millions of turns long. How large and long are those DNA? If you took the DNA out of every cell of your body and put them together, they are so compact that they wouldn’t be as big as an ice cube, yet if they are unwound, they would stretch from here to the sun and back…….OVER 400 TIMES! Isn’t that incredible? When you look in the mirror today, pause and take the time to praise the God who created you, and remember that you are indeed fearfully and wonderfully made.

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 09:51:59 GMT

One well know Charismatic writer wrote these words:

"The World awaits a fresh manifestation of the Spirit in the Body of Christ......I am tired of the airy, fairy doctrines of Theologians. The fresh manifestation of the Spirit will have NOTHING to do with sound doctrine.”"

Is that statement true? Is it true that a fresh manifestation of the Spirit is going to come independent of sound doctrine? What is true is that the Church in some circles is accepting just about anything that smacks of spirituality without checking it out with the Word of God first. We see it in the way the Church has embraced a marketing approach to ministry, viewing the gospel as a product to be hocked. We see it in the therapeutic approach to handling life's problems as opposed to a Biblical approach where God’s Word is seen as sufficient. We see it in the health wealth and prosperity gospel, where God is seen as a cosmic genie as opposed to the awesome Sovereign Holy One. We see it in the acceptance of shabby theology in Christian book stores, with books being written that have little to no relation to Biblical teaching. The extremes are see in the bad theology of some Charismatics to the non-theology of some emergent Church writers.

What is the Problem? There has been a breakdown of theology on the Local Church level where Pastors have opted out for a perceived better way as opposed to the Pauline example of consistently teaching of the whole counsel of God, and modeling a distinctly Christ-like living pattern.

As David Wells says in the last Chapter of his fine book “No Place for Truth; Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology?”

"We need reformation rather than revival. The habits of the modern world, not so ubiquitous in the evangelical world, need to be put to death, not given new life. They need to be rooted out, not pampered over with some fresh religious enthusiasm.” ( His thesis is that proper theology leads to revival..) “The death of theology has profound ramifications. Theology is dying because the Church has lost its capacity for it. And while some hail this loss as a step forward toward the hope of a new Evangelical vitality, it is in fact a sign of creeping death. The emptiness of evangelical faith without Theology echoes the emptiness of modern life."

As the body of Christ we must stand with a balance of love and sound doctrine. It seems to me that we have swung from an emphasis on Orthodoxy (right belief) to an emphasis on Orthopraxy (right practice). The point is that we need both, without either the Church ceases to represent Jesus. Pray that Pastors would have a renewed confidence in the Word of God. God’s people are starving for the knowledge of God and it is time for the Shepherds to step up to the plate and deliver it, line upon line, precept upon precept.

Gaining Perspective

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 11:18:46 GMT

Perspective……an interesting concept isn’t it? It is so easy to lose perspective in life. As we go through this life it is not difficult to get so wrapped up in our own lives that we miss the needs of hurting people around us. It happened to me on my drive home yesterday; let me tell you the story.

I left my office for the 4 mile drive home and I was in my typical rush. We were planning on going out after dinner to watch some of our teens play in a softball game and I was running a bit late. Normally when I go across South Florida Avenue, I make it a point to shift gears and think about my wife Ruth and her needs and break out of the “Pastoral” mindset. I was ruminating over some ministry issues as I came up to my “perspective changing” intersection, and then I saw it, a back up all the way to the light….not totally abnormal, but now I would be late and it would push all of our plans back. To be honest with you, I was a bit bent out of shape; convinced that this was a satanic attack on my schedule! We crawled along for 20 minutes with only 2-3 cars making through each cycle of the traffic lights on Lake Miriam at Cleveland Heights. I haven’t had my blood pressure taken in 10 years, but I am sure it was relatively high by now. And then it happened, the perspective change. Along the side of the road ahead I saw that there had been an accident, and I saw a young gal crying as she looked at her new little car which now resembled a crumpled up pancake. I then notice the older couple, huddled together as the wife was being comforted by her husband, he had already been bandaged up around the head. “O.K. Lord” I thought, “I get it; all I was thinking about was my little world, my little plans and my little life. There is a world out here of hurting people who need Jesus, please instill in me YOUR perspective of the world.”

Has something like that ever happened to you? I am not saying that God had that accident happen to straighten out my perspective, but I am saying that the Lord allows us to providentially come across circumstances daily that are meant to shake us out of our tiny, self-consumed perspective of life on to his global view of a world without hope. Let us continually seek to see this world as Jesus sees it, then we will have a true and an accurate..…. perspective.

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 09:32:48 GMT

When Job lost all that was dear to him, his response was “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed by the name of the Lord.” We have a tendency to read those words and think “Well that was Job, super saint in a different age. It is not possible to have an attitude like that in our day…” OH? How about a young couple who was given news months ago that the baby they were expecting was going to have numerous difficulties? Their response was to put total trust in their sovereign Lord. The baby, Hannah is her name, was born this week with numerous physical challenges. After surgery yesterday, the Lord took her home. How did the young, grieving couple respond? Here it is….from Geoff and Abigail Stalber’s own e-mail:

“Our God was good in giving her to us.

Our God was good in taking her from us.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Wow…..they have found their God to be sufficient in a time of great loss. To be honest with you, it was no surprise to me, for this is a unique couple with a deep confidence in their Lord. Geoff is an integral part of our leadership team at Heritage and we love he and Abi deeply. We sorrow with them this week, for that is what the body of Christ does, we rejoice together and we sorrow together……we are a family, and can I let you in on a secret? I love being part of this family even….let me restate that…..ESPECIALLY during the hard times. People like Geoff and Abi challenge us all to “trust in the Lord with all of our heart and lean not on our own understanding..”. Geoff and Abi, we love you.

Learning Curve

Fri, 06 Oct 2006 12:27:47 GMT

One of the passions of my life is to learn. Throughout the years I have learned many lessons from many people. I have also learned that there are many kinds of people. We could break them down into the following categories:

1. People who motivate us, who add to our passion to learn & grow.

2. People who grow with us, they share our passion.

3. People who learn from us, the catch our passion.

4. People who watch us, they like our passion.

5. People who drain us, they want our passion and will suck it out of us.

Being in ministry, it is easy to spend most of your time with group #5, hurting people who are very draining. I have seen some of them move from group #5 up to group #3 and that is exciting. One of life’s greatest challenges is to find people in group #1, those who will motivate us, those who add to our passion for Jesus. Over the years there have been numerous people who have had that ministry in my life, and almost all of them have been older than I, men like Paul Dixon, John MacArthur and Joe Stowell. One of the exciting realities in my life is that there are now 2 NEW men in the category of people that motivate me, and they are markedly younger than I.

Those 2 younger men have a lot in common, they both love Jesus, they both have a passion to engage the culture for His glory. Those being two of my greatest passions, I have seen both of these men shaping my life for better. Who are they? One is my son, Art. He motivates me. I have watched the Lord shape him into a passionate disciple. His sole desire is to bring glory to God in all that he does. He wants to learn deep theology and practice it in his daily life. Again, those are marks that I am passionate about in my life. I love to interact with Art and see what he is learning and how he is applying it to his daily life. Is Art perfect? With a Dad like me he has little hope for that, but he is a young man of God who is marking the world for his glory. I am proud of my son, and thrilled to be learning from him! Another is Mark Driscoll, Pastor of Mars Hill in Seattle. I have listened to Mark for months on the podcast from Mars Hill Church. I have e-mailed him and encouraged him in his ministry in my life. Recently I had the privilege of speaking to the students at Cedarville University (go Jackets!). I have learned from Mark some great principles of sharing with singles (much of my personal ministry is to married people), for Seattle is one of the most single centric cities in the country. At Cedarville I shared many of principles that Mark has shared with the people at Mars Hill, and of course the principles were a blessing to many for they come from the Word of God which carries all the power. I let Mark know how his ministry is affecting people he does not even know. If you don’t get his podcast, put it on your ‘to do soon’ list. (http://www.marshillchurch.org/) Art doesn’t have a podcast yet, but his blog is a great read (http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=aboulet) My point is that we can learn from people of all ages, not just those older than us! Those of you who are younger who read this, your life is impacting others whether you realize it or not!

"Red Like Rock"

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 11:40:44 GMT

I have been thinking about how people measure “true spirituality” or a “biblical Church”. Donald Miller in “Blue Like Jazz” has a finger on how we are NOT to measure spirituality. He points out that in the culture we live people measure whether you are spiritual or not by whether you are “a pro-life anti-environmental republican who doesn’t drink, get high, swear or smoke.” He states that the user friendly Church has tried to market Jesus as “being cool” and is totally self-absorbed. Of course he does that while he continually uses “I” and “me” coming up with his own home made brand of Christianity that somehow ends up with a Christianity that is "hip" and a Jesus that thinks that Miller is "fine just the way he is" and in Millers world this Jesus is restored to being truly “cool”. I thought it was impossible to read a whole book on the subject of “Christian Spirituality” and not interact with one Biblical text or one Biblical principle, but not with Miller on the pen. I agree that the issue of true spirituality has been fogged up both politically and practically. Unfortunately, Miller comes to the conclusion that the real spiritual people vote democrat, cuss up a storm and have no problem drinking and/or getting high! Personally I think that true spirituality is a love relationship with Jesus where we listen to Him (reading the word), talk to Him (prayer) and glorify Him by living for Him (reaching the lost, ministering to the needy, building the saints, all in submission to his Word). Maybe I should write a new book "Red Like Rock" on willing to sacrifice (thus RED) my own passions and life for King Jesus, the ROCK!

On the other end of the spectrum from Miller, we have the traditionalist. We had someone visit our Church recently and wondered why I did not give an “invitation” at the end of the sermon. When I talked to them, I reminded them I encouraged people to trust in Jesus as Lord at the end of the sermon. What I didn’t do was give a “traditional altar call” and for them, that was sacrilegious. Why is that? What does the Bible say and where did this tradition come from? I want to insure my readers that I do invite people to trust in Christ each week, which as far as I know is the only Biblical requisite for salvation. Concerning Altar calls....to be accurate, we do not have a sanctuary or an altar at Heritage or any evangelical Church (oversensitive about that from my Roman Catholic background??), WE are the sanctuary (1 Cor. 6:19-20). Now to the traditional "come to the front" invitations, which if you trace them started with Charles Finney in the late 1800's, with the rise in holiness theology (Wesleyan). Finney believed that men were morally wounded but not dead (as opposed to depraved, dead in their trespasses and sins) and that it was his job to "argue them into the kingdom", so he came up with a system to get them "down the aisle" that is still alive today. In the New Testament, a persons profession of faith publicly was when they were baptized, (sorry my paedo friends!) identifying with Jesus and His Church. Throughout the early Church, calls to trust in Christ were made, and then when a person understood the implications of that, they were baptized and their testimony was clearly seen openly and symbolically. I guess I am more drawn to the Biblical pattern, although I would not say it is totally un-biblical to have a public "come down the aisle" invitation. The Lord has used Billy Graham in a tremendous way using that. However, there are a couple of personal concerns I have with public “altar calls”:

#1 I have seen the abuse of invitations so often, get them down the aisle to get the numbers up. You know the system, get the hand raised privately, then get them down the aisle publicly, and if they won't come, use the guilt card. Then after say "We had 27 people saved today". That is so wrong. It may be appropriate to say "We had 27 people walk forward", but only time will tell if they truly trusted in Christ.

#2 The invitation in Scripture is to come to the Father through Christ, and I have seen people get confused thinking coming down the aisle is the issue, if they come they can get saved, if they don't then some how they are not ready for salvation yet. I have heard statements like "Satan is holding you in that pew, you need to come down now" Is salvation at the front of the Worship Center or is salvation by grace ALONE, through faith ALONE in Christ ALONE? Some invitations fog that issue. To illustrate that point, I had a person say to me recently "How are people going to get saved at Heritage if we don't have them come forward? I was saved coming forward in a Church." WOW, I personally was saved by trusting in Christ.

#3 Why is it the decision we want people to make the most (trust in Christ for salvation), we make the most difficult (walk down in front of hundreds of people they don't know).

#4 Who is the invitation for to come down the aisle? For the Pastor to see who if any one is responding? For the congregation so they will truly believe that God is at work? Is there really confidence in the Word of God to bring about the results through the Spirit of God? I wonder some times.

#5 I have heard people say "What a great service, this many people came forward....." Is it a great service if in that setting if NO ONE comes forward? I am of the opinion that it is a great service if God is worshipped, and his Word is taught, and his people grow. In a utilitarian society we measure success by results; I am just not convinced that is how the Church is to measure. In a system where "come to the front" invitations are the norm, the measure unfortunately becomes how many come up front, there again catering to utilitarianism. Then if no one comes, the Pastor gets frustrated (or he starts to manipulate), the congregation starts getting antsy as well.

#6 Some say "What if someone wants to respond"? We use communication cards in our ministry so that people can respond and let us know of a need or a question. We do want to help people, and we have people continually respond on those communication cards so we can follow up on them. We have people respond continually and follow up is on going. But we make it a personal issue until that person is ready to make a public declaration in baptism and/or Church membership.

All that being said does not mean that I oppose all public invitations to "come forward". I have seen some that are well done and I am not opposed to calling for a public commitment, but it seems to me that the "come forward" type of commitments I see in the Bible are for God's people to make a stand in a unique situation not a continual system to get people forward week after week. As far as those making first time commitments to Christ, those are seen in the public testimony of baptism. I am not saying that having people come forward is wrong or un-biblical; it is just not the direction I take in my ministry. I hope this doesn’t come across as ranting, I am just seeking to be Biblical! Keep on serving the King!!

Bill

Phil. 1:6

Christians and Social Drinking

Mon, 12 Jun 2006 20:54:12 GMT

It seems to me that Christians are involved at an increasingly higher rate of drinking alcohol than any other time since I became a Christian. What about Social Drinking? When I became a believer it wasn’t an issue, you just were told not to drink….but things have changed, and Christians are involved in many circumstances in Social Drinking.

--What does the Bible say?

--Is it OK to have a glass of wine with your meal? How about a beer? Gin and tonic?

--What if an unbeliever offers me a glass of wine and it would offend him if I didn’t take it, should I? Would that be a good or bad testimony? Would it offend God?

--Are there 2 words for wine in the Bible, one for fermented wine and the other for Grape juice?

--Did Jesus change the water into fermented wine? Was the first communion with fermented wine?

--Was wine in the Bible the same as wine today?

**I am going to try to attack this in some organized manner if to help those who are grappling with this issue.

We must realize that good Christian people disagree with me on what I am going to present, we are not to be judgmental, yet we ARE to seek to cultivate Biblical convictions and hold to them firmly and consistently. It is NOT LEGALISTIC to have strong Biblical Standards, and don’t let anyone convince you that it is. Legalism is spirituality by standard, HOLINESS is seeking to obey the principles of the Word of God, and the Word speaks clearly on this issue:

#1 We must consider what the Bible says about Drinking

--Right up front let me say that we are dealing Biblically with wine for wine drinking is what is mentioned in the Bible:

Drunkenness is a sin

--Deut. 21:20-21 And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. [21] And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

--Isaiah 5:11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!

#2 We must consider what wine was in Biblical Times

--A key to a proper hermeneutic is to understand what the culture was at the time of the writing of the Bible, and what words meant in that culture.

--The appropriate question we must ask it this: Is Wine drinking today the same it was in Bible Times? Christians who drink, inevitably give, as their right to drink, the fact that wine was drunk in the Bible. So, If drinking in biblical times Is to be used as the basis for drinking today, the wine they drank must be the same as the wine today. Let's explore this issue.

The Biblical Words for Wine

OINOS/YAYIN

--The most common word in the New Testament for wine is the Greek word oinos. It is a word that simply refers to the juice of grapes. In fact, this word was used to refer to the grape as it hung on the vine- "hanging wine." The word oinos was a general word and didn't specify whether the wine was fermented o unfermented. It just simply referred to the juice of the grape - any kind.

--The Old Testament equivalent to oinos Is the Hebrew word yayin, and is used 141 times. The root for the word yayin means to "bubble up" or "boil up". According to the Jewish Encycolpedia (1901), yayin means "mixed wine." This mixing was not with other wine but usually with water. Sometimes it was mixed with honey, herbs, or myrrh; but even then, it could also be mixed with water. Even though oinos was a general word for wine, it also predominately has to do with wine mixed with water.

GLEUKOS/TIROSH

The Greek word gleukos, from which we get the word glucose, means "new wine." It's used In Acts 2:13 when it was said that the Apostles, on the day of Pentecost, were "full of new wine." Gleukos, or "new wine',' is fresh wine but it's still fermented. --Fresh wine, just out of the grape, without refrigeration, would ferment very rapidly and was potentially intoxicating. Now if the wine had just been taken from the grape, it obviously wouldn't be fermented. But the word gleukos. or "new wine", referred to wine that could have been days, weeks, or a few months from absolute freshness - and would still be fermenting.

--The Old Testament word for "new wine" is the Hebrew word tirosh. In Hosea 11:11 it says that "new wine" (tirosh) could create drunkenness.

--So, "new wine," tirosh or gleukos, could create drunkenness.

SIKERA/SHAKAR

Shikar Is the Old Testament Hebrew word for "strong drink" and means "unmixed." The equivalent Greek word In the New Testament Is sikera. Unmixed, may talk about the drinking of unmixed wine, not Jack Daniels as we will see in a later in our discussion.

--WHAT WASTHE WINE THEY DRANK IN THE BIBLE?

Rarely Unmixed

--When wine was stored as a liquid, It would ferment. According to Robert Stein, in Christianity Today, (June 20, 1975), the liquid wine which was used on a daily basis would be stored In large jugs called amphorae. From the amphora, they would draw out the pure unmixed wine and pour it into large bowls called kraters, where it was mixed with water. From these kraters, it would then be poured into the kulix, or cups. They never served wine directly from the amphora to the kulix without first being mixed with water in the krater. In other words, they didn't serve unmixed wine. And according to history, the mixture could be anywhere from 20:1 to 3:1. Romans and Greeks drank it 3:1, Jews were known to drink it 5:1 and weaker.

Unmixed Was Barbaric

Drinking unmixed wine was looked upon even by unsaved people, as barbarian.. Robert Stein in his article quotes Mnesitheus of Athens as quoted by Athenaeus: "The gods have revealed wine to mortals, to be the greatest blessing for those who use it aright, but for those who use it without measure, the reverse. For it gives food to them that take it and strength In mind and body. In medicine it Is most beneficial, it can be mixed with liquid and drugs and it brings aid to the wounded.”

So, as a beverage, wine was always thought of as a mixed drink. The ratio of water might vary, but only the barbarians drank it unmixed. Even a 1:1 mixture was considered to be "strong drink" and was frowned upon. The point is this: Unmixed wine was unacceptable to that culture. Even as we move away from the New Testament church period and into the early church period we find, in a volume called the Apostolic Tradition, the fact that they also followed the custom of serving only mixed wine -- either from a syrup or a liquid base.

* How do the alcoholic drinks of today compare to those of biblical times?

According to the Alcohol Council information Center, beer has 4% alcohol wine has 9-11 % alcohol, brandy has 15-20% alcohol, and liquor has 40-50% alcohol (80-100 proof). Now, since anybody In biblical times who drank unmixed wine (9-11% alcohol) was definitely considered a barbarian, then we don't even need to discuss whether or not a Christian should drink hard liquor that is apparent! But what was the alcoholic content of the wine that they drank? Taking the lowest mixture that was acceptable, which was 3:1 (to say nothing of 5:1, 10:1; 15:1, etc.), combined with the 9-11% alcoholic wine, we come up with a final alcoholic content of 2.25-2,75%, If it is 5-1, it would be even lower. Now that's very low. In fact, by today's standards something has to be 3.2% alcohol to be classified as an alcoholic beverage. So the wine that they consumed in those days was either completely non-alcoholic (being mixed from a syrup or paste) or was sub-alcoholic according to today's standards.

--So the answer to the question in our study, "Is drinking wine today the same as In Bible times?" is “No" As a matter of fact, the drinking of today’s wine would be similar to the drinking of “strong drink” in Biblical times, and that it is clearly condemned in Hab. 2:15-16. So the conclusion comes quickly that we are not to drink wine today, at least the wine that we have in our culture. Now I know what some are thinking, “What if I do mix it with water, and then it now becomes sub-alcoholic, can I drink it then?” Wrong question, the issue is how Holy can I be, not how close to sin I can get! Let us consider some other issues as well.

#3 We Must Consider whether Drinking Wine is Necessary

I realize that in biblical times it was somewhat necessary to drink wine (Remember, the wine I am speaking of was sub-alcoholic). And there may be times today when it is necessary. So the Bible doesn't say that you can't drink wine. God knows there are times in history where there isn't much choice if you're going to drink what is available.

Past Necessity

In the New Testament, the Lord produced wine (But not STRONG DRINK, or unmixed) and talked about drinking wine. In the Old Testament wine was a necessity in their society. But don't conclude that it was the same as what we drink today.

Present Preference

Today, due to refrigeration, beverages can be kept without fermenting; and we have an endless variety of non-alcoholic drinks to choose from. Is drinking wine necessary today? No. It's a preference or want. Don't say you drink because they did it In the Bible; just say you do because you want to—It's a preference. But remember, to drink wine unmixed is overtly against the Bible. And ALL the wine we have today is UNMIXED, or in Biblical terms, strong drink.

#4 We must Consider the Principle Highest Holiness

**The Higher Standard for the Old Testament Priesthood - Abstinence

Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die..." (Lev. 10;9a).The people could drink wine which was mixed with water ,, but the priests were called to a higher level, They were called to be separate and to a higher level of devotion and commitment to God. They had to be total abstainers. Why? So that their judgment and priestly functions would never be clouded. God wanted their minds to be c1ean clear, and pure.

*****The Higher Standard for Kings and Princes" Abstinence

"...it Is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink, lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the justice”

I want to show you a progression of biblical truth to help you to determine what the best choice would be. In God's basic economy in Israel, there was a separation among the people; and the people with greater responsibility had higher standards

**The Higher Standard for Those Taking a Nazirite Vow - Abstinence

-- In Numbers 6:1-2, we read, "And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying. Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When the man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazi rite, to separate themselves unto the LORD. .."Anybody in the congregation of Israel could choose to step up to this standard, which was the highest standard.

--When a Jew really wanted to set himself apart unto God and consecrate and devote his whole life to the Lord. He took a Nazirite vow--the highest act of consecration for a Jew. Nazirite comes form the word nazlr, which means "the consecrated one: So, a Nazirite is a "consecrated one."

--In Numbers 6:3-5a we read, "He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried. All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk. All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head...." The highest level of consecration involved abstinence. Someone who took a Nazi rite vow was stepping up to a higher level of commitment and identifying with the kings, princes, and priests. The vow could last for thirty, sixty, or ninety days...or even for life!

--Question: Did God lower His standards In the New Testament?

Priests, kings, princes, and Judges who were consecrated to God couldn't drink. Those who took a Nazirite vow couldn't drink. The Rechabites chose not to drink. And when you come to the New Testament, I don't believe the standard changes. Peter says in I Peter 2:3 that every Christian is a king and a priest (a "royal priesthood"). Jesus said in Matthew 11:11 that everyone in the Kingdom is greater than John the Baptist.

--Second Corinthians 6:17 says, "Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, ..and touch not the unclean thing...." Second Corinthians 7:1 says,"...let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." We are all called to the highest level of commitment "to be separate and consecrated unto God. We are all elevated to make the best choices--one of which involves abstinence. We are to seek the highest level of holiness, not see how close we can come to sinning without technically doing so!

**The Higher Standard for Church Leaders” Abstinence

Given in I Timothy 3 are the standards for those who lead in the church. The word "bishop" in verse 1 is synonymous with elder or pastor--it means "the shepherds of the Church." If a man Is to be a leader in the church, verse 2 says he is to be blameless. Blameless in what areas? Verses 2-7 covers the areas, they are measures of spiritual maturity, ALL should seek to reach them.

**Notice in the text he does not have a relationship with wine, literally “to sit too long beside it”

**Can mean one of 2 things

The wine was so weak it would take long to get drunk . (Please remember, when I use the word wine, I am using it in the Biblical sense that is mixed with water, which would make it extremely weak. That was a necessity, for they drank this predominantly, and if it had a high alcoholic content, all would be drunk continually)

Shouldn’t sit near it because eventually would be tempted to drink it!

**I favor the second because of 1 Tim. 3:8, deacons were not to be “given to much wine” I believe that Elders were to abstain from it totally, the Elders always have a higher standard!

**Why Did Paul say what he did in 1 Tim. 5:23? This was medicinal usage, Timothy most likely had dysentery and needed to drink wine so that the impurities from the water that were besetting him would be relieved, but again it was sub-alcoholic.

**The point is that we should be striving for the highest level of holiness, not seeking to see how else we can come to the edge of sin. With this principle alone, it is obvious to see that any believer interested in reaching the highest level of holiness will not be involved in drinking anything that has an alcoholic content as a beverage.

#5 We must consider the Destructive Force of Alcohol

--EPHESIANS 5:18

The word for "excess" on the Greek meant "to be hopelessly and incurably sick, —The literal meaning of asotia, at the time of Paul, referred to a person who by his manner of life destroyed himself. Drunkenness leads to Incurable, hopeless sickness and destruction. Another passage In which asotia is used is In Luke 15:13. Here, in reference to the prodigal son, it says that he took everything, went into a far country, and engaged himself th asotia, or "riotous living." He engaged in a life, which led to incurable, hopeless sickness.

--He had a wild, undisciplined life, which was leading to destruction.

--PROVERBS 20:1a — "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging..."

(cf. Prov. 4:17; 21:17; 23:2).

--GENSIS 9:20-26 " Where there is drunkenness, there is immorality.

--GENESIS 19:30-35 Where there Is drunkenness, there Is incest.

--DEUTERONOMY 21:20 -- Where there is drunkenness, there is gluttony, rebellion, disobedience to parents, and a dissolute life.

-- ISAIAH 28:7 " Wine and strong drink corrupted the prophets and the priesthood.

-- JOEL 1:5: 3:3 — God withdrew from the Israelites the right to drink because it came to the place where they would sell a person for wine.

-- HOSEA 7 -- Ephriam’s iniquity was linked to wine.

--AMOS 2:8, 6:6 -- Amos writes in several places about the terrible debauchery that comes form drunkenness and wine.

--Habakkuk 2:15-16 Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness! [16] Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the Lord's right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory.

**This answers the question as to whether I should serve drinks as part of my job as a waiter or waitress, the answer is a resounding NO.

#6 We must consider how it affects Other Believers

**1 Cor. 8:9-13 & Romans 14:31-21 (read & exp)

--There is no way we can go to restaurant, order wine and water and mix it (drinking it straight is overtly wrong), and do it in such a way that it would not offend someone according to this text. What about at home? Have you considered the testimony to your spouse? To your children?

#7 We must consider our Christian Testimony

Our Testimony to Other Christians

--Romans 14:16 says, "Let not then your good be evil spoken of."

It's very possible that you can be a good guy with a good ministry; but if you exercise your liberty to drink, to the offense of ether people, your testimony and ministry will be depreciated. I personally don’t want anybody to be disturbed or my Christian testimony to be lessened in any manner because of something I do. And I know that there are many people in Christian circles who would think much less of me If I drank alcoholic beverages. So, I don’t want to offend them. Besides that, I believe it to be un-biblical anyway!

Our Testimony to the Lost

**1 Cor. 10:31-33 (turn read and explain)

--Take a poll of unbelievers, and you will find that THEY think it is not appropriate for Biblical Christians to drink! What a rebuke! The world having a better idea of how Christians should behave than some believers themselves. We offend their concept of holiness, and then they will not listen to our presentation of the gospel.

#8 We Must consider the Principle of absolute Conviction

Is it offensive to other Christians? Is it harmful to my testimony? Am I sure this is right? Will this glorify God? Would I want the Lord to come back while I am drinking? Is there a chance it will offend? AM I SURE??

--Romans 14:23 "And he that doubteth is condemned If he eat, because he eateth net of faith; for whatever is net of faith is sin."

--Are you absolutely sure it's right to drink? If you've had any, conviction about it at all, you ought to deal with it. If you can't do something with a completely free conscience, believing with all your heart It's right --don't do It! Because If you do, it will push you deeper Into self-condemnation and self-imposed guilt" and that's wrong. Conscience is the tool by which God convicts you. If you violate your conscience again and again, you will build up so much scar tissue, that when God wants to convict you in a sensitive area, you won't feel it. When you need it, it won't be there. So, If you want to walk as a wise Christian, you must deal with the Issue of whether or not a Christian should drink.

I cannot make a person come to a personal conviction, neither should I. My responsibility is to present Biblical Truth and force people to grapple with it and come to a biblical conclusion. Don’t come to a conclusion based on what other do, what others think, or what is personally pleasing, but on what God says!!!

FORSAKEN

Fri, 14 Apr 2006 09:29:05 GMT

There are 6 words in the Gospel of Mark that I came across and I just could not get them out of my mind. They haunted me, they challenged me, they sobered me, they saddened me.........What were they? They are from the 14th chapter of the gospel of Mark, they read as follows......”They all forsook Him and fled....”

We all know what it is like to be forsaken on one level or another don't we? Some have to experience it while they are young with the break up of their home, and they feel rejected and forsaken by those they love the most. Others have been forsaken by a spouse, and they know the sting that brings, the corresponding loneliness, and the ongoing fight with bitterness. Many people have been forsaken by peers, and know the hurt and the anguish of being let down. People who have been or are presently forsaken and rejected are around us all the time, it is part and parcel of life. If there is one truth that hits us all the way through life it is that life is not fair, and people are not always even handed!!

You don't have to travel far to find the rejected, just visit the local High School, and look for the teens who are rejected, already feeling the cold wind of being forsaken. They aren't hard to find, they may have acne or greasy hair, or a slow metabolism that keeps them over weight. They sit alone in the cafeteria, they stay home on the weekends, they long to be even recognized by a class star, they long for acceptance, but they are convinced they don't deserve it. You can find the rejected in a nursing home, people who through no fault of their own have committed the heinous crime of aging, and they are alone, feeling rejected and forsaken. Consider the divorcee, who used to be included when the couples went out, but they no longer call since her husband left, and she feels rejected and forsaken. We could add those who have AIDS, the handicapped, and the terminally ill. They all know what rejection and being forsaken is all about. Society doesn't know what to do with these people and sadly, even the Church isn't sure how to react, these people often would find a warmer reception at the corner bar than in a Sunday School class in some Fundamental Churches. Maybe you feel rejected and forsaken, and nobody would ever know, you've hidden it well, but deep down inside you feel cold, isolated, alone.....FORSAKEN

When you are in a state like this you begin to wonder, "Can anyone relate with how I feel? Can anyone help?" The answer to this question is a resounding YES! Jesus knows how you feel. He was rejected by everyone dear to him. He was rejected by his hometown. He grew up in Nazareth, a child without sin. He was wise beyond his years as seen in his teaching in the Temple at age 12. Being God in the flesh he was kind and loving all the time, yet he was forsaken by those closest to him. He was rejected by the religious leaders of the day. Those who dedicated their lives to the study of the Scriptures, which pointed to the coming of the Messiah, rejected Him when he came. Near the end of his life he was rejected by most those who had followed him. They had eaten food that he had miraculously provided. They had seen him perform many miraculous works, yet they rejected Him. He was rejected by one of his own disciples, Judas, who betrayed him for 30 pieces of silver. He was rejected by his family. His brothers and sister ridiculed him (See John 11:1-5). He was rejected by his closest friends, the disciples. These men who Jesus loved, and who he taught. These men with whom he spent 3 years of his life with. Arguably, these men were the most privileged men to ever live, and yet they turned their back on the one who had loved them like they had never been loved before. When the choice came between their skin and their Lord, they chose to run to save their skin. When they saw that Jesus was going down, they jumped ship! Jesus understands what it is like to be rejected and forsaken.

As intense as all of that rejection was, the worst rejection was yet to come. On the cross of Calvary, Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why hast thou FORSAKEN me?” From 12:00 - 3:00 it was dark. It was not an eclipse, for it was Passover season, which is the time of the full moon. At this time the moon is opposite the sun. This darkness that was caused by God. It is interesting that at the birth of the Son of God there was brightness at midnight, and at his death there was darkness at noon. Why was Jesus forsaken on the cross? Because for 3 hours endured the pain, the suffering the agony of sin. The sins of God’s children were cast on Him, and the Father and The Spirit had to turn their backs on him. He suffered for sin alone, abandoned, forsaken. Why did he do this??? Hold on now....it is because he loved us. That my fellow bloggers is incredible!!! He endured the agony of rejection for those who are willing to turn from their sin, and embrace Him as Lord and Savior. Think about it this way. When Jesus was crying out for his Father to forgive them, he was saying, "Father, forgive them, by pouring out your wrath on me." When a person comes to Jesus Christ in faith that his death, burial and resurrection is sufficient to save, they are assured that they will never be forsaken again. People may let you down, but Jesus says to those who trust him, “I will never leave you or FORSAKE you.” As you gaze at the cross this passion season, remember, Jesus was forsaken so that we would never have to be eternally forsaken.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 11:31:22 GMT

    I have been thinking about worship quite a bit recently, plus I am doing a series on it in our Church. Isn't it interesting how people have reduced Worship to "musical style" and thus missed the whole point? Worship is the humble adoration of God in which I celebrate HIM and honor HIM in all that I do, at all times. It is not primarily an "experience" i.e. something that "happens" to me, it is something I do (worship after all is a VERB). But the reality is that there are many ways in which to worship God, especially in a corporate setting. Some of us love upbeat worship choruses that drive the same truth deep into our souls, others love theologically rich Hymns and the stimulation that they bring to our hearts in worship. Is it a STYLE issue, or is it that we have all been made differently? Think of the differences we have, gender differences, age differences, geographical differences, cultural differences, background differences, generational differences, taste differences, spiritual gift differences......HEY WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT! Then why we do work up a sweat when all people don't all enjoy the same style of worship? I think the root for that is in our pride, we tend to think the God prefers the style of worship that we like! That puts others in the category of: (pick one) aesthetically immature, spiritually immature, too conservative, too progressive, too emotional, not emotional enough, to focused on deep theology, not interested in accurate theology.....et .al.
    I do think that our guide for worship is the Bible and we must stick to that as our guide, but even in the Bible there are different styles of worship. As I have studied this it has helped me tremendously to appreciate others and how God has made them. I will call them "Worship Languages":

Ø Solomon = Aesthetic Worshipper

o Delights in beauty, loves order, tradition, emphasis on the awesomeness of God, love historical creeds, thrive for artistic integrity, music style vital to them and classical music and traditional hymns are best

o Worship for them is primarily HUMBLE ADORATION

Ø David = Experiential Worshipper

o Want to “feel” the presence of God, want to express themselves outwardly and love to see other express themselves in the same way by clapping, raising hands, giving a loud “amen”, music style is vital to them, they love upbeat music that is contemporary

o Worship for them is primarily CELEBRATING THE LORD

Ø Moses = Activist Worshipper (Peter fits here as well)

o Worship must call to action and service, driven by passion against oppression and compassion for the disenfranchised, see a need for continual change, want action, desired to be challenged by a vision that is greater than they are, music style is not vital to them but it should call for action

o Worship for them is primarily ACTIVATION TO ACTION

Ø Jeremiah = Contemplative Worshipper

o Worship is deep in the soul, quiet, time for introspection is vital, want to get lost deep in the character of God and sense His presence in their lives, music is vital to them and is slow and repetitive, driving the truths deep in the heart, most love worship choruses or Worship Hymns

o Worship for them is primarily being MOVED IN THE HEART

Ø Paul = Studious Worshipper

o Worship is the quest for the truth, all worship must be based on accurate exegesis of the Scripture, detailed Bible teaching a must, are weary of those who say they “feel God’s presence”, music style not vital but it must accurately reflect Biblical truth

o Worship for them is primarily KNOWING GOD BETTER

Ø Barnabas = Relational Worshipper

o Worship is best in community, love to see other worshippers, interaction is important to them, if given time they would shake everyone’s hand in the congregation during the greeting time, want to relate with other, break down walls, music style is not vital as long as it is participatory

o Worship for them is primarily a COMMUNITY EXPRESSION OF PRAISE

Do you see yourself in there somewhere? For those of you who know me, you know that I am the "Studious Worshipper". I tend to enjoy different genre's of music as long as they accurately reflect Biblical truth. What I realize is that in most worship services there are people there from all of the worship languages. So if something in the service is not necessarily a great blessing to me, then I must realize that it is most likely in another language and one some of my brothers and sisters in Christ are worshipping at their highest level and in THAT I can rejoice? Instead of assuming that all should worship like we do, let's appreciate the differences in the body of Christ, HE DOES!

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Thu, 29 Dec 2005 13:27:53 GMT

I have just read a number of books and articles on the Emerging Church. Some were insightful and some were frightful. There were accurate critiques of many aspects of evangelical life. The Church does need to be more committed to community and not buy into the individualism of ANY age (It is not the enlightenment that made men individualists, it was SIN) There have been excesses in legalism, control and intimidation is some circles, and I have been critical of that for years. I also agree that there are a few that have made evangelism a scalp collection game where you get people to say a prayer to get the stats up…..but is that really the majority? It seems to me in the literature that I have read (and I will be the first to say my reading has been limited to about 15 books and maybe 100 or so articles on the issue) is primarily reactionary. Now we do need to react to that which is wrong, but it seems that in the literature many times we are offered 2 divergent options (i.e. either share the gospel to get someone to pray a prayer OR view the gospel as incarnation, love, meeting needs and living out the life of Christ.) There is another option is there not? Are we not to live godly lives, seeking to reach the lost with the gospel and as we do, share the message of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus as sufficient payment for the sins of people? I think it is a both/and, not an either/or. My other observation is that most of what the emergent people offer that is positive (and they offer it as though it is NEW) has been taught by competent theologians of the Church for hundreds of years! My major conern however is seeking to redefine the gospel…..The good news is that the Bible defines the gospel for us and those acquainted with Church history realize that what the people of God have viewed the Bible to teach as being the "evangel" has been consistent for close to 2,000 years. Now after 2,000 years we are told that there are new thinkers here who are going to finally get it right for us?

There seems to be some discussion among some who call themselves emergent (especially Sweet and McLaren) concerning the penal substitutionary death of Jesus on the cross to pay the price for the sins of His sheep. It is sad that after 2,000 years the New Testament is still not understood by some. Is it the drive to be “NOVEL?” I can’t state motives, but without hesitation I can say the Bible only teaches one thing! And what the Bible says about this issue is vital, for the Word is TRUTH.

Gal 1:4 clearly states that He GAVE himself for our sins. Jesus offered up his life by his own will, for His will is one and the same with the fathers will:
--John 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
--John 10:17-18 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

”Gave himself for our sins….” in Gal 1:4 is in the Aorist tense,(TOU DONTOS) lit. “having given himself for our sins...” , this is what we would call the simple past tense, the use of this shows he gave himself once for all at the cross, that is it never needs to be repeated. The Bible consistently teaches this truth:
--Hebrews 9:28 Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
--Hebrews 10:12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;

In Gal. 1:4 St. Paul states that “He gave himself FOR our sins...”
The word for is the Greek word HUPER = lit., on our behalf, for our benefit, in our place. I, without hesitation, believe in the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ, that is that he died in our place, for our sins. He died a vicarious death, in our stead, for our sins. Again the Bible is replete with this teaching:
--2 Corinthians 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
--II Cor. 8:9 "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might become rich"
--Phil. 2:5-8 "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a Servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross....."
--Rms. 4:25 "He was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification."
--Ephesians 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
--1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
--1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
--1 John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
--Isaiah 53:3-6 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all
--Rms. 5:8 "But God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us"

How anyone can come to the conclusion that the Bible is not clear concerning the nature of the death of Jesus is beyond me. But my primary concern is that we are being told by some that sharing this message with people from a heart of compassion and love is not really the heart of evangelism, that somehow telling a person that Jesus died for sins and atonement is available through His death, burial and resurrection is not a sufficient gospel presentation! Compare that with the life of the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 2:1-9). Some have gotten the gospel mixed up with the result of salvation. I agree that our lives are transformed by the power of God, that we should love the downtrodden and minister to their needs and that we are to embody the fruit of the Spirit and live lives that are pleasing to the Lord, but that is not the gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-3) that is what happens when a person believes in the Lord Jesus.

I am reading a lot about culture in the material, but little about the scriptures. I guess that should not surprise me. Paul did warn that the time would come when people would not want sound teaching....I love his advise to his young understudy Timothy....PREACH THE WORD...(How modern, oh wait, this was before the enlightenment!) Again, I do not mind critiques, but the answers are in the Bible are they not? Where is our confidence in the eternal truth of the Word of the living God? I long to read some solid exegetical based critiques from the emergent's for I am sure that it would be helpful and the answers would be much less subjective for sure.

I appreciate a lively discussion of theology as much as anyone else, but we must remember that at the same time we are to “earnestly contend for the faith” (Jude 4), and do so with a spirit meekness….oh Lord help me with that one!!

If you want to read some excellent posts on the Emergent Church, go to http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=aboulet

May God bless your families in the new year!!!