We’re down to the final study in our Wendesday night journey through the “one another’s” of the New Testament. This one is pretty awesome - we’re to comfort one another. It’s based on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, a familiar passage to many. It concerns itself with Jesus’ second coming, which forms the basis of our comfort of one another. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »

The blog has been put on hold for a couple of weeks now, primarily because of all that my wife and I have been experiencing in our personal lives. Here’s a recounting of it…

On Monday evening, October 30, Angie left her ladies’ Connection Cafe meeting feeling well, but by the time we drove from the church to our house (just a couple of minutes) she was in terrible pain. We decided to go to the emergency room. Our beloved friends, Cory and Lachelle McCaig, came to sit from about 10:00 pm until 4:30 Tuesday morning while Angie was subjected to numerous tests, which found essentially nothing wrong.

On Tuesday morning, October 31, we went for a follow-up visit at her physician’s office and he became concerned about some possible internal bleeding. He decided to admit her to St. Mary’s hospital where he would perform a laproscopic procedure simply to explore any potential problems. He, like the emergency room physician, sought to rule out the possibility of an ectopic pregnancy. One he began the procedure, he discovered the worst scenario, an ectopic (tubal) pregnancy, which can be deadly.

The short, one-hour procedure turned into a two and one half hour operation with a large incision. I was so moved as I waited in the surgery waiting room as about two dozen members of our church surrounded me, waiting to hear that Angie had come through the surgery okay. We were delighted to hear that she would be just fine. The physician explained that she had sustained heavy internal bleeding and that her risk of possible death had been higher than he had anticipated.

Angie’s Dad brought her Mom down from St. Louis to help take care of her for a few days but her stay was interrupted by yet another family emergency. On Thursday, Angie’s grandmother suffered a heart attack and was in intensive care in Washington, Missouri. The family had hoped that she was improving, but in the middle of Thursday night, a call came alerting us that she had taken a turn for the worse. Angie’s Mom borrowed my car and drove through the night to be at her mother’s side. Ella Briggs (our daughter’s namesake) went home to heaven on Friday, November 3.

Later that afternoon, Angie and I loaded up our van and began the trip to St. Clair to attend the funeral, but wisdom along with some forceful but loving input from our family, prompted us to turn back and stay at home. Angie was recovering a little each day, but it may be a total of six weeks recovery time before she is completely healthy again. We’ve taken a much needed one night sabbatical to a nearby vacation spot and have attempted to settle back into a routine, with Angie returning to work on this past Monday, November 13.

The Sunday before all of this began, my text included Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to His purpose.” That Monday night, Angie testified at Connection Cafe that she had (at least we thought at the time) a miscarriage, but that God was faithfully teaching us to trust Him. It isn’t merely a cliche that “everything happens for a reason.” When you’re a believer, nothing is left to chance anymore. You realize that God has a sovereign plan that allows His children to endure some very difficult crises in life in order that we might enjoy “the fellowship of (Christ’s) sufferings.”

Since we learn how to be disciples through the tough stuff, what have I learned from all of this?

First, I’ve learned the importance of God’s timing. Had Angie not been persisent with her physician in his office, he would have sent her home where she may have bled to death. We’ve heard numerous testimonies from others who experienced the same trauma and were in grave danger. God rescued Angie just in time. On a similar note, I’ve learned the mysterious nature of God’s timing. Why would Angie’s grandmother pass away just after Angie’s surgery when her mother would have to make a midnight dash for Missouri and when Angie could not attend the funeral? All I can conlcude us that God is ultimately wise.

Second, I’ve learned the value of a loving church family, a fellowship of believers. I was surrounded in a waiting room by numerous friends and members of our spiritual family. Once home, people provided meals as well as company with their visits. We’ve experienced an outpouring of love and compassion for which we will be forever grateful. I’ve often heard others say, “I don’t see how people make it through things without a church family.” That statement was exemplified in our tragedy.

Third, I’ve learned what a beautiful and courageous woman I married! I sat in the surgery waiting room virtually helpless. I could do nothing to ensure her safety except to pray. I could do nothing to help her recover except play nurse and fetch water. Yet I watched as Angie handled the situation like a champ. Note that champions have weak moments, moments of curiosity about the activity of God and moments of emotional break-down. Tears rarely come from cowards. I’ve learned a new respect for her. While it was our baby that died so prematurely in a pregancy complication, it was her body that experienced such drastic trauma. I wish I could be half as strong as her!

More than anything, we’ve learned “in all things (to) give thanks unto God, for this is the will of God for (us) in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) At our former church, we used to have a responsive chant: “God is good… all the time… and all the time… God is good.” God really is good. We don’t always get what we expect or want, but God never ceases to be holy or loving. God has been glorified in our lives in so many ways in the last few weeks, all we can do is humbly give Him praise, cry our tears, and go on in faith that God will always be good!

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who will also do it.” -1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

Paul’s prayer for the people of Thessalonica was a heartfelt prayer for their permanent cleansing. “May God completely cleanse you and set you apart for His purposes… May He preserve you until Jesus comes again.” Then Paul notes that the God who called them to the Christian life would be faithful to keep His promise. They would be cleansed. They would be set apart. They would be found blameless when Jesus comes becuase of His miraculous intervention in their lives.

The fulfillment of God’s promises toward His children does not hinge on our faithfulness but on God’s faithfulness. Our being found blameless at the throne is not contingent upon our ability to wash ourselves with religion, but on His ability to preserve those that He saves. We didn’t save ourselves, yet so often we begin to believe that we must somehow keep ourselves in the favor of God. Each time we make a mistake, we come to the conclusion that surely this time God will be finished with us.

While we should never treat sin lightly, we must realize that God’s patience with His children is inexhaustible. This is no license to sin, it is rather motivation to serve our loving Father faithfully. To know in advance the victorious outcome of our life of faith frees us to run the race with patient endurance for “our God is faithful, who will do it!”

“Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you.” -2 Thessalonians 3:1

I must admit that few things in life are more exhilarating than preaching God’s Word. That’s how God has wired me, that my great passion in life would be to see people’s hearts changed by the preaching of God’s Word. But it isn’t just public speaking that changes people - it is the powerful and supernatural Word of God that does so. In fact, one key to great preaching is the willingness to stand and deliver, in the power of the Holy Spirit, God’s perfect message and then to step out of the way and watch God work.

The Word of God, when given free course, will change people to their core. We must simply pray that the Word of God is given the chance to do so. Sometimes we get in the way, thinking that our cleverness will somehow “help” the Bible out. Other times we simply doubt, at least subconsciously, the divine power of God’s Word to effect any real change. But the writer of Hebrews told us that the Bible is “quick and powerful” meaning that it has a resurrecting and reviving power unrivaled by anything produced by our creativeness.

The Word of God changes lives. It has for two millennia and it shall until Jesus comes again. Have you given the Word of God free course in your own life? Have you allowed it the freedom to change you at will? When you hear it preached do you tune in or check out? If you want to be all that God intended, then let the great Sculptor shape your life with His choice tool, His infallible Word!

“They will suffer punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his might.”-2 Thessalonians 1:9

God is just, therefore He will punish those who reject Him, His Son, and His message. Paul said in Romans 1 that even those whose only witness of God’s existence is in creation “did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened.” So a failure to experience, enjoy, and magnify the glory of God on earth will end with not only eternal destruction but with an even worse fate: separation from His glory forever.

You see, there is a real hell, an eternal lake of fire, that awaits all those who reject God’s witness to them. But the greatest punishment is not physical, emotional, or intellectual. It is spiritual. The worst punishment will be that not only did they pass up every chance to glorify Him as God, but after the judgment, they will never again have the chance. There is a finality about death and about the second coming of Jesus. That finality is tragically wrapped around an eternal inability to share in the glory of God.

Do you know the one way to avoid eternal separation from the presence of the Lord? It is to begin a personal relationship with Him and enjoy His presence in life today through His Son Jesus Christ, who died on the cross and rose again from the grave to reconcile us to God. Anyone who comes to Jesus in this life, in genuine repentance and faith, will be saved and will enjoy God’s presence and glory now, tomorrow, and forever!

Have you heard a teenager say, “But all my friends are doing it?” Our usual reply is a sharp rebuttal such as, “If all your friends jumped off the Empire State Building, would you do it too?” The darker side of my humor enjoys the cartoon depicted by Gary Larsen in which an enormous pile of bodies is mounting next to a building where a person is poised on the edge, ready to leap. The caption reads, “If everybody jumped off the Empire State Building, after a while it wouldn’t hurt so bad.”

The message of the church to young people today is so often, “Don’t go with the flow, dare to be different!” We realize the serious mistake of giving wholesale assent to whatever popular opinion dictates. We stand on issues such as abortion, homosexual rights, and gambling no matter what the majority rules. All of this is very biblical considering the mountain of Scripture that speaks to us about the doctrine of personal separation from the world.

What happens, however, when we call people to forsake their following of popular secular opinion merely to exchange it for a blind following of ecclesiastical opinion. More simply stated, is it wise to declare null and void any possible argument against what mainstream Christian culture establishes to be so?

We live in an age of media giants who use marketing to shape popular opinion far more than even our most powerful educational institutions. The Christian subculture, unfortunately, follows this trend, even if unintentionally.

John MacArthur has often commented that one of the most neglected Christian virtues today is that of discernment, and he is absolutely correct. To question is to be disagreeable, and to be disagreeable with Christian pop-culture is paramount to being heretical and downright odd! Perhaps we should realize that if many heroes of the past had not presented their questions, we may not have many of the great confessions and creeds that helped to preserve a biblical faith against the work of cultists.

Personally, I’m rather concerned with the swelling tide of Calvinism that is sweeping Baptist seminaries and churches. I’m upset about the number of Bible translations produced each decade under the guise of giving modern readers a more pragmatic rendering of the old, old story (note: Since each publisher seems to want to have their own translation, or two or three, we might go so far as to question the motives behind this translation pandemonium). I’m alarmed at how quickly certain philosophies of ministry take root which seek to strip the Bible of any specific guidance in any area other than theology proper. Heaven forbid we question whether a Christian music artist should be an exact replica of a drug-ridden punk rocker, whether Christian teenagers should really be getting fashion advice from porn-producers such as Abercrombie & Fitch, or whether the Nude Reviled Substandard Perversion is okay as long as it’s understandable!

I say, let’s be discerning! Let’s “try the spirits, whether they be of God…” (1 John 4:1) Let’s “withdraw [our]selves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received from us…” (2 Thessalonians 3:6) Let’s “stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.” (2 Thessalonians 2:15)

We need to return to discernment, to thinking, and to a willingness to express and debate these and other issues rather than blindly accepting whatever is handed down from the day’s most popular Christian resource providers. Let me think on my own two feet and if I don’t show up at the next “Christian rock” concert waving a neon green copy of the newest translation and covered in pseudo-Christian/gothic tattoos, you’ll know I have good personal reasons!

“For this is the will of God, even your sanctification… For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.” (1 Thessalonians 4:3, 7)

It’s very easy to get caught up in the pursuit of something secondary to God’s great purpose for us as believers. We constantly face the temptation to be driven toward success or popularity, possessions or prestige. But God has caught us and called us to a higher purpose, a better life, a heavenly goal. We’ve been called to cleanness.

While many believers will suffer spiritually as they struggle to gain the freedom to rule their own lives (and thus resorting back to the old, unredeemed life), we must pursue the purpose for which we have been apprehended by Jesus - holiness, cleanness, and sanctification. What other pursuit could be more important in our personal journey of faith?

If you’re a believer, you’ve been caught! Jesus, the fisher of men, has apprehended you. He has purchased you in such a way that you are no longer your own. Contrary to popular opinion and American individualism, you are not your own any longer. God has placed certain spiritual authorities in your life. He’s placed you in the family of God and your church has a mutual stake in the outcome of your faith. While you may scream for the freedom to rule your own domain, God’s Word will remind you that the greatest freedom of all is to be enjoyed within the boundaries of God’s will.

His will is in one respect, an individual issue. In another respect, His will is universal to all believers. We cannot resort to a Christian brand of moral relativism. Instead we must realize that certain rules are applicable for all Christians, regardless of individual circumstances. This is not legalism, which is seeking to please or “pay off” God through rule-keeping. Rather it is merely reverencing God’s moral authority as our Father, Lord, and King.

If Jesus is your Savior, then pursue that for which you’ve been saved - holiness! It’s a worthy pursuit. Holiness brings the confidence of spiritual assurance, it earns a crown in heaven, it pleases the Lord who purchased us with His precious blood, and it supports our verbal witness to a lost world. Give yourself wholly to this goal - total perfection, total spiritual completeness, and total Christlikeness!