On Heresy

Followers of Jesus Christ are supposed to be united in the the truth of orthodox doctrine.

(Ephesians 4:1-6) I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,
3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

If believers are united in this way, they can grow mature so they will not be "tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine." (Ephesians 4:14)

Heresies are the teachings that cause people to be tossed about.

Some heresies are teachings that are in direct conflict with the central teachings of Christianity. They attack doctrines like the inspiration and authority of scripture, the person and work of Jesus Christ, the nature of God, the basis of salvation, and so on.

Other heresies are divisions and dissensions over things that are not in the Bible at all.

Paul warned Timothy to study hard so that he would avoid stupid arguments over inane things. "Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness." (2Timothy 2:14-16)

In case he didn't get the point, Paul restates it. "But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient," (2Timothy 2:23-24)

Still later Paul charges Timothy to preach the inspired, profitable Word of God. "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. (2Timothy 4:3-4)

When he wrote to Titus he said the same basic thing. "But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless. Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned." (Titus 3:9-11) The word translated, "divisive" here is "heretic."

Such heresies include legalistic rules about clothing, foods, and music. There are biblical principles that need to be applied, but an individual's good faith decision about application does not have the same force as scripture. The rules for such decisions are found in Romans 14.

In recent years the heresy of King James Onlyism has been blowing at gale force. The KJV has a long and distinguished history, but the whole spectrum of arguments that the KJV is the ONLY true Bible in the English language are at best "foolish disputes." At their worst they are a terrible betrayal of orthodox theology about the inspiration and authority of the Bible.

Heresies like these distract people from the clear teachings of the Bible about things of eternal importance. We should avoid such things and expose them whenever possible.

Be On Guard

We need to be on guard. Proverbs 4:23 is an excellent verse to keep in mind:
"Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life."

When I was a boy we lived on the family property in upstate New York. The old farmhouse had spring water that trickled into a reservoir in the basement from a pipe that began 300 yards away. Up on the mountainside, just below the dirt road, was the spring-house. It was a little cement cube with a wooden roof over it. Inside, the spring water bubbled up from the ground and flowed into the pipe that led to the house far below. The low wall was built up to prevent groundwater carrying dirt or pollutants from flowing into the spring from the road just up the hill. The roof kept the leaves from the forest from blowing in. The whole spring-house was supposed to keep bugs and animals out of the water that we wanted to use.

One day the water stopped flowing. I remember going with my dad to check out the spring-house. Dad took off the roof and looked down into the spring with a flashlight. He pointed out the pair of frog legs sticking out of the end of the pipe - blocking the flow. Dad reached down and pulled the frog free and the water was restored (though I imagined it was a bit fishy tasting for a while after that.) While we were there, dad fished out a few leaves and sticks that had fallen into the spring, then put the roof back on. He showed me where it would need some repairs later.

Our heart is like a spring of water. If you want it to flow clean and pure, you need to tend it. Clean out the leaves that fall in. Put up a wall high enough to stop groundwater from running in off the road. Repair the roof periodically to make it effective in keeping critters out.

Moral failure is all around us. It is celebrated in the media and modern entertainment. Lust throws out a snare in modern fashions, in advertisements, in magazines, on TV shows and certainly over the Internet. It is reaching out for us all with the promise that "stolen water is sweet and bread eaten in secret is pleasant." (Proverbs 9:17)

But the real problem is our hearts. We need to have pure hearts. The sin comes from inside of us, not from outside. The Bible says, "Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed." (James 1:14)

We need to be on guard - keeping our hearts as pure springs. Do what you need to do to protect yourself. Be careful what you read, what you click on, what you gaze at. Sometimes you need to close your eyes. Every day you need to pray for God's cleansing and protection.

(1Corinthians 10:12) Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

Anything Goes

Do you ever wonder what on earth could motivate people to do the crazy, ugly, self-destructive things they do? I am thinking especially of the almost daily shooting incidents where someone opens fire on strangers in a public place, then shoots himself.

Here is my analysis.

1. America (where almost all of these shootings occur) has moved from separation of church and state (freedom of religion) to separation of church from public life (freedom from religion).

2. Public education has mandated teaching the theory of evolution which theory exists solely for the purpose of suggesting ways that the complex world we observe might have come about apart from supernatural creation. (Too bad they don't give as much attention to teaching actual science - e.g., the second law of thermodynamics & the scientific method for debunking bad theories.)

3. Because several generations have now been indoctrinated with the idea that there is no God, that the creation does not suggest a God, and that God should be banned from public displays and public discourse, many people have obliged by believing it.

4. Since they don't believe there is a God or anything beyond their life in this present world, they believe that they are free from moral dictates and free from the fear of Divine judgment or punishment. They are, in their view, animals ("meat machines" according to Dawkins) living among other animals and operating according to their instincts for survival and procreation.

5. Unfortunately, that view is tremendously unsatisfying for many people. They want to be more significant than mere animals. They want transcendent meaning and purpose. The difficulties of this life and their own sense of right and wrong are absurd if there is no God.

6. I suspect that their reasoning goes something like this. "My life is not fulfilling. My existence is absurd. I want to end it all and go out with a splash that will make the news." Killing people is no more significant than stepping on ants. Since I am killing myself I don't have to fear human judges. Since there is no God, I don't have to fear eternal judgment."

The question is not what makes them do it. I think that is pretty clear. The bigger question is why more people don't do it. I suspect there are lingering doubts - echoes of some religious training or some inborn suspicion that there is a Creator and Judge.

Christians are called to be salt and light. We need to be doing that more and more. Tell the world - every man, woman and child - that the Creator is calling everyone everywhere to repent, turn to Him and find significance and everlasting life in Jesus Christ.

Global Warming

I am looking at the snow covered yard and the snow continues to fall. It makes me think about "global warming." (Have you noticed that the news doesn't call it global warming anymore? Now it is called "climate change.")

Is there such a thing as global warming or not?

Certainly climates have changed over time. There was a time when the earth was covered with organic matter sufficient to produce all of the coal and oil that we are now using for fuel. There was a time when there was tremendous upheaval - causing continents to move, oceans to sink and mountains to raise. There was a time of when there were many active volcanoes - and a time (maybe due to so much volcanic ash in the atmosphere?) that there were glaciers flattening out huge swaths of ground in what are now pretty much temperate areas. For that matter - places like the grand canyon show that there was an awful lot of water running off of the ground and tearing things up.

True believers in global warming assure us that "most scientists" believe in it. Of course, most scientists don't study climate change - so how would they know anyway? Besides that, the same people assure us that "most scientists" believe that the most complex systems ever observed - DNA and bio-systems - happened completely by accident over time. (Can anyone say, "The second law of thermodynamics," or even the word "entropy?")

A person who buys into the naturalistic world-view has no choice but to accept the theory of evolution because it is not falsifiable even if it is incredibly unlikely. "These complex systems are here, we can only use naturalistic uniformitarian explanations, therefore they must have happened by small changes that can be imagined over long periods of time. We know natural selection works because here we are." (Talk about circular reasoning!) "You can't prove that it didn't happen, even if we can't show it happening today."

The evolutionists, because they are evolutionists, believe that there must have been billions of years (and even hundreds of billions of years is insufficient time to explain the complexity of our living world.) But what if the time-frame is much shorter - say about the length of recorded history - definitely less than 10,000 years and perhaps more like the 6,000 years or so that the Bible indicates?

Back to global warming. The shorter time frame means that all of the extreme conditions that we know existed (worldwide lush organic life - catastrophic volcanic and tectonic activity - widespread glaciation, tremendous water run-off) happened quickly. If the glaciers actually covered most of North America about 5,000 years ago instead of the millions of years suggested by evolutionists, then we might still be warming up from that.

Wouldn't that be global warming (AKA climate change?). So, who am I to say that there is no such thing as global warming? But if they prove it, they may be proving something they would rather not prove... that the world isn't nearly as old as they want it to be and their uniformitarianism will need to yield to a catastrophism that fits the biblical account of things.

(2Peter 3:2-7) that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior,
3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts,
4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”
5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,
6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.
7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

Talk about global warming!

Ordination Council

I was privileged to attend an ordination council today in Smithville, Ohio. Kevin Fath is to be commended for acquitting himself well in the face of sustained fire from the council members. I wish that every church member could attend a few of these councils to get an idea what a Regular Baptist pastor goes through on the way to ordination to the ministry.

The council consists of pastors and representatives from churches of "like faith and practice." The ordaining church can also invite special guests like former pastors, pastoral friends, professors, or fellowship representatives. Some - most will be fairly friendly - some not so friendly - and there will always be people with particular pet theological questions.

The candidate starts with an account of his conversion and call to ministry. Then the council begins to question him on this subject. What is a call to ministry? What is your personal devotional regimen? How does your life compare to 1Timothy 3? What is your most important qualification for ministry?

Typically the candidate has prepared a theological paper of his views on all the major topics of systematic theology. The doctrine of Scripture, God, Christ, The Holy Spirit, Angels, Man, Sin, Salvation, The Church, and Last Things. The council asks the candidate about the things he has written and about things he left out. They ask about his use of specific verses and about his view on verses he didn't use.

Pretty much everything is fair game - but of course the object is to thoroughly examine the man to see if we should recommend that the church proceed with his ordination.

Then there are the questions that are practical scenarios. Would you pastor a church that was set up in this way instead of our traditional Baptist way? Would you perform a marriage for someone who was divorced from their previous wife? How would you counsel someone who claims to be saved but doesn't give up their sinful lifestyle? How would you handle the funeral of someone you don't believe was saved?

Today's council meeting - the question and answer part - took from 10:00 a.m. to just after 1:00 p.m. (with one ten minute break at about noon.) Lots of questions and lots of answering. But there is a lot to be considered. Is this guy really called to ministry? Is he spiritually qualified? Is he adequately trained? Can he think theologically? Is he really a Baptist? How does he handle the pressure of a situation like this? What kind of spirit does he display? Are there any glaring theological errors that we should be concerned about?

These things are no picnic - they are serious business because pastoring a church is serious business. Ultimately ordination is the decision of the individual church, but "in the multitude of counselors there is safety."

The Flu

I have suffered with the flu over the past week, but I think I am past the worst of it now. Last Sunday night I knew it was coming and by Monday I was coughing and feverish. Tuesday and Wednesday I was seriously ill and I pretty much stayed in bed. Thursday I was finally able to work again and I've been improving ever since. I still have a cough, but at least I don't feel fevered.

Isn't it amazing that a microscopic virus can have such an effect? There I was a week and a half ago - complacent in my health and vigor. Then the little bug infected me and laid me low. I am glad that my immune system was in working order. I am also glad that I was blessed to recover fairly quickly without developing pneumonia, requiring hospitalization and/or dying.

Sorry if that sounds morbid, but the fact is that the flu still kills quite a few people. Geraldine Iversen used to tell about when she was a little girl during the 1918 flu pandemic. She said that every family was effected and many people in her small town died. It was one of the things that started her thinking about eternity. She saw, even at an early age, that people died fairly easily. She realized that she needed to know what would happen after she died.

We may live in post-modern times, but one of the relics of modernity is clinging to us. People are SURE that modern science will conquer death. It is hard to tell if people are tremendously confident or panic stricken in their assertions that cures for everything can be, should be or will be discovered in the next few years - certainly in not more than a decade.

Which leads me to my continuing belief that modern science still doesn't know what life IS. Scientists can describe the characteristics of living organisms - but they still can't tell what makes one organism alive and one next to it dead. Life itself is beyond science. The scientist can experiment on living organisms and find things that make them react, adapt, reproduce or perhaps die. But they can never catch the spark that IS life.

Life is a divine prerogative. The Living God is the source of all life. He lets His creatures play with the stuff He created, but He reserves the prerogative of life itself. Dr. Frankenstein can stitch his monsters together out of borrowed parts, but he still has no way to bring them to life. Life comes from God and is lent to us at God's pleasure. When Adam chose death to obedience, God graciously provided a second chance - eternal life through Jesus Christ.

Stay well!

He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.
And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1John 5:10-12)

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. (John 1:4-5)

Shake A Stick?

Where did the phrase "shake a stick" come from? (As in, "I have more X than you could shake a stick at.")

If you had a lot of something, why would you shake a stick at them anyway? Are you counting them?

Does this come from a time when people warded off the wolves by shaking a stick in their direction? Would that work on wolves? If you had too many to shake a stick at were you overwhelmed by wolves?

I suppose it could have been parents threatening to punish children. (That would have been before our "enlightened" era when shaking a stick at children would probably land you in jail.)

Maybe the stick was a fishing pole and there were more fish in the pond than you could shake your stick at.

Did older people commonly carry a walking stick? Did they motion with their stick for emphasis when they talked about the good old days? They had more stories than you could shake a stick at.

These are just my theories - certainly not authoritative. I have more theories... You can't swing a dead cat without... Theories are like ticks on a hound dog. There is certainly no lack of goofy theories.

Have a good night.