what fools we've been

"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." -Romans 8:29

"Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent." -Revelation 2:5

So often our minds seek to be occupied, but not to be occupied with God.
So often our senses yearn for beauty, but not the beauty of God.
So often our lips pursue expression, but not to express God.
So often our ideals extol virtues, but not the virtues of God.
So often our hearts long to love, but not to love God.
So often our souls desire joy, peace, and wonder as autonomous, godless trifles!

What wretched blasphemy, that the infinitely glorious God of eternity should be overlooked and scorned by His own creatures! What damnable idolatry, that we should prefer to thanklessly revel in God's providence, rather than to love the Lord our God with all our heats, all our souls, all our minds, and all our strength! What repugnant hypocrisy, that man should write poem, novel, and song to praise life, love, heroism, justice, mercy, and sacrifice, while disdaining the One who is Himself the source and substance of all virtue!

But oh, what unthinkable grace, that the righteous Judge of all men should sacrifice His beloved Son, to redeem His bitter enemies, and make them heavenly sons, gloriously fit to adore, enjoy, and worship as Lord their resurrected older Brother! Oh, what fools we've been!

The Power of God

"The only power God recognizes in His church is the power of His Spirit, whereas the only power actually recognized today by the majority of evangelicals is the power of man. God does His work by the operation of the Spirit, while Christian leaders attempt to do theirs by the power of trained and devoted intellect. Bright personality has taken the place of the divine afflatus [a divine imparting of knowledge or power]." -A. W. Tozer

How much truer these words are today than decades ago when they were first penned! Oh that God would rend the heavens and come down, bringing true brokenness, repentance, and revival, turning the hearts of His people away from their own worthless ingenuity and back to His own glorious Spirit!

Discernment: Part 3

Reasonable, Essential Discernment

It is not unreasonable that public acts should merit a public response. When I write something on the internet, I am making my statements public property—I am going on public record as saying, “this is who I am and this is what I want to say.” Therefore it is fitting, if I am teaching what is false, for someone to publicly denounce my teachings. If it is fitting for someone to publicly agree with me when I publicly say what is right, the opposite must also be true. This applies not only to blogs and emails, but also to books, sermons, speeches, and all other public forums. God’s commands regarding church discipline are reasonable and good. By forsaking His commands for discernment and mutual accountability, we have abandoned the Church to the oversight of a condemned World.

While discussing the worldliness of modern Christianity, a friend recently asked me, "So where does the church need to go from here?" I replied, "Repentance, Revival, and Reformation. Above all else, we need to pray unceasingly that God would give us hearts to return fully to Him and to His Word. We must count as absolute poison to the Church every man-made, man-centered innovation by which the majority of American churches are built today." Semper Reformanda! (The Church should be "Always Reforming!")

O, Lord, let us delight in Your holy Truth and abhor that which is evil and false, especially when it is found in ourselves! Rebuke us and revive us, for the sake of Your great Name!

Discernment: Part 2

The Absurdity of Denouncing Discernment

Almost every time I have seen a discerning Christian draw public attention to the (publicly) unbiblical message or methods of a minister or ministry, he or she is quickly met with multiple negative responses. Usually some will protest, saying, “You shouldn’t say that, because Christians shouldn’t publicly judge or criticize other Christians,” seemingly unaware that in so doing, they themselves are publicly criticizing other Christians. Those who criticize Christians for criticizing other Christians would have a hard time justifying their inconsistency. Such criticism reveals that we all truly believe in a supreme standard by which ministries should be measured, and then either publicly praised or rebuked, so that others may be commended to the true and cautioned of the false. The real question is not whether we ought to warn others of false ministries, but by what standard we must do so.

Those who take offense to a public call to biblical discernment often cite Matthew 18:15-20 as grounds for their objections. This passage teaches that you are to go to your brother privately, “if your brother sins against you,” that is, personally. Personal sin between two Christians should be resolved between those two Christians. If the one in sin remains rebellious, other believers must become involved, because the sin has already affected the whole church, whether the other believers were aware of it or not. This is the only place in Scripture where a believer is commanded to go to a sinning brother privately, because the sin was committed privately. In every other passage dealing with church discipline, (including 1 Cor. 5; Romans 16:17-18; 2 Thess. 3:6-15) the command is “deal with the sin.” Public sin demands a public response, because watching Christians must understand the seriousness of sin, and a watching world must know that the Church takes seriously obedience to God’s holy Word. God’s reputation among the lost is at stake in our dealing with public sin, (such as unbiblical evangelism). Jesus called out false teachers publicly. So did Paul. So did John the Baptist. All the heresies of the early church were warded off by faithful Christians who stood for the truth and publicly decried those that promoted error. The chief reason that fleece-robed wolves and ignorant idolators run rampant in the "church" today, is that most orthodox Christians are too afraid to speak out against them. Spineless orthodoxy is a catalyst for bold heresy.

Discernment: Part 1

The Death of Discernment is the Death of the Church

Many Christian leaders today often adopt unbiblical (that is, anti-biblical) “ministry” methods in the name of “diversity” or “creativity.” These creative ministers often neglect to emphasize vital Gospel truths as Scripture emphasizes them; thereby presenting a warped “gospel” that is easier to accept. Once the Christian’s message is subtly compromised, his methods invariably follow suit, becoming worldly and man-centered. Many (and I mean many) prominent ministries today exist to inoffensively entice worldly men to receive a worldly “gospel” that is devoid of saving, keeping, and sanctifying power. Unquestionably, God is not pleased by our attempts to improve upon His ordained method of “the foolishness of the message preached.” The pride that esteems man’s creativity more highly than God’s Word was condemned long ago at Calvary, along with all other sins.

Tragically, many onlookers don’t recognize the fault in man-centered ministries, either because they are unaware of Scripture’s command for Christian holiness, or because they are unaware of just how drastically opposed holiness and worldliness are. Most such onlookers have grown up in other “creative” ministries and therefore assume them to be normal and biblical. (I sympathize with them because I was once among them!) As a result of our lack of biblical discernment, we usually measure a ministry’s value not by how much it is in line with Scripture (and therefore how much it glorifies God), but how much it produces visible “results.” In so doing, we promote superficial “unity” and worldly Results at the expense of doctrinal integrity. But unity that is not grounded in truth is not biblical unity, and Results gained by unbiblical methods are a blasphemous offense to God. When we seek to honor God by human means, we profess to be wise, yet become fools (Romans 1:22), and have an appearance of godliness, but deny its power (1 Timothy 3:5).