I'm getting ready to leave the hotel in Minneapolis and all morning, I've been listening to some great worship music. I love to sit and ponder and reflect God's beautiful sovereignty in salvation. This morning, I'm thinking about how deeply sheltered we are within God's grace.
Richard Sibbs, a Puritan Pastor, once said, "There is more mercy in Christ than there is sin in us." I don't know about your life...but that is good, good news for mine! Paul said in Romans 5:20, "Now the law came in to increase the tresspass." That means that if you're one of those people who think that because you're a good person that you're going to be okay...this is saying that you're not!
If you want to live by works and simply rely on how good you are...or for most cases...how bad others are compared to yourself...then Paul is saying that when you compare your life to the Law (which is God's standard) then not only will your sin abound...it will increase by that Law.
In other words...if I take something that isn't mine, even if it's little, according to the Law, I'm a theif! If I get angry at someone...according to the Law, I've committed murder in my heart. Even if I lust after a girl, according to the Law...I've committed adultary. Are you getting the point?
So, the Law comes not only to reveal sin...but to add to sin. So here I am, even a pastor for crying out loud, with this enormous list of sin that the Law has increased and made longer. But wait! There's a reason why we call this message of Jesus Christ the Gospel...it means Good News!
You can only appreciate good news when you understand how bad the news of total depravity truly is! The good Gospel news is that of Colossians 2:13-14, "And you who were dead in your tresspasses...God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our tresspasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside nailing it to the cross."
Amazing! That is my favorite Scripture in the entire Bible. The "Record of Debt"...what is that? It's my sin that the Law "increased." It's that long list of wrong I've committed against God. What did Jesus Christ do? He took that long list (my debt of sin) and triumphantly nailed it to the cross with his own hands and feet! What a Savior! What a King! What wisdom! What Sovereignty!
Has your sin (or record of debt) been nailed to His cross? Paul finished up this verse by saying that after the Law inceases our sin..."that where sin did abound, grace did much more abound!" That is the beauty of God!
At some point today, will you reflect and marvel at the amazing grace of God?
Amazed,
Pastor Chad
Minneapolis, MN
"Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable aer his ways!" - Romans 11:33
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Ray Boltz Announces He's Gay...And How the Church Should Respond
Ray Boltz was a hero of mine when I was a teenager. His song “Thank You” was the number one Christian song in 1990, followed by “I pledge allegiance to the Lamb,” “The Altar,” “I will praise the Lord” and many others. This week, however, Ray Boltz announced to the Washington Blade that he was now living a homosexual lifestyle.
I was saddened by this news. I can remember hearing him in concert and truly feeling the presence of the Lord. So what do we say to this? How can someone be used of God to write such powerful songs for the church and then not endure to the end in salvation? How can someone who has known the Lord and His Word and His Spirit turn their back on the things of God?
Well, there are several answers to these questions. First of all, it’s always important to remember that God honors His Word and not man. Just as Pastor Bob preaches this morning, it’s God’s Word that is being uplifted..not Pastor Bob. When I lead worship today, it’s not me who is leading you into God’s presence, it’s the Holy Spirit honoring the Word of God.
This actually isn’t new in Christianity. In 1735, Oglethorpe invited John Wesley to come on a preaching trip to Georgia from England. John Wesley came to preach to the Gospel and had many salvations. It wasn’t until 1738 that he was soundly converted himself!
Horatio Spafford, who wrote the powerful hymn “It is well” after the loss of his two daughters by drowning in the Atlantic Ocean, went on to build a ministry in Jerusalem, but by the end of his life in 1888 at age 60, he died believing he himself was the second Messiah.
A hymn that holds a very special place in my heart, “Come Thou Fount” also has a tragic ending. Robert Robinson penned these amazing words at the age of 22 in 1757, however, he did not endure to the end as well and wasted his life.
So, what do we say when someone mightily used of God falls into the depths of sin?
I think there are several Biblical answers given to the Church:
1. What the Church should remember:
Hebrews 13:3, “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”
2 Peter 1:10, “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure…”
2. How the Church should respond to those who have fallen:
a. If they are willing to repent and turn from their sin –
“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.” Galatians 6:1
b. If they are unwilling to repent from their sin –
“Keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt, save others by snatching them out of the fire, to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.” Jude 1:21-23
3. What the Church should remember about God our Shepherd:
“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy.” Jude 1:24
“Who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” I Corinthians 1:8
Ray Boltz has become “hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” and it is our responsibility to pray for him following what Jude 1:21 commands, “save others by snatching them out of the fire, to others show mercy with great fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.” I hope that this will be a time that you not only pray for those who have fallen, but that you will also examine your own heart and “keep yourselves in the love of God” that you not be “hardened by sin.”
Looking to Christ,
Pastor Chad
Preaching Christ Church
I was saddened by this news. I can remember hearing him in concert and truly feeling the presence of the Lord. So what do we say to this? How can someone be used of God to write such powerful songs for the church and then not endure to the end in salvation? How can someone who has known the Lord and His Word and His Spirit turn their back on the things of God?
Well, there are several answers to these questions. First of all, it’s always important to remember that God honors His Word and not man. Just as Pastor Bob preaches this morning, it’s God’s Word that is being uplifted..not Pastor Bob. When I lead worship today, it’s not me who is leading you into God’s presence, it’s the Holy Spirit honoring the Word of God.
This actually isn’t new in Christianity. In 1735, Oglethorpe invited John Wesley to come on a preaching trip to Georgia from England. John Wesley came to preach to the Gospel and had many salvations. It wasn’t until 1738 that he was soundly converted himself!
Horatio Spafford, who wrote the powerful hymn “It is well” after the loss of his two daughters by drowning in the Atlantic Ocean, went on to build a ministry in Jerusalem, but by the end of his life in 1888 at age 60, he died believing he himself was the second Messiah.
A hymn that holds a very special place in my heart, “Come Thou Fount” also has a tragic ending. Robert Robinson penned these amazing words at the age of 22 in 1757, however, he did not endure to the end as well and wasted his life.
So, what do we say when someone mightily used of God falls into the depths of sin?
I think there are several Biblical answers given to the Church:
1. What the Church should remember:
Hebrews 13:3, “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”
2 Peter 1:10, “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure…”
2. How the Church should respond to those who have fallen:
a. If they are willing to repent and turn from their sin –
“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.” Galatians 6:1
b. If they are unwilling to repent from their sin –
“Keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt, save others by snatching them out of the fire, to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.” Jude 1:21-23
3. What the Church should remember about God our Shepherd:
“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy.” Jude 1:24
“Who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” I Corinthians 1:8
Ray Boltz has become “hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” and it is our responsibility to pray for him following what Jude 1:21 commands, “save others by snatching them out of the fire, to others show mercy with great fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.” I hope that this will be a time that you not only pray for those who have fallen, but that you will also examine your own heart and “keep yourselves in the love of God” that you not be “hardened by sin.”
Looking to Christ,
Pastor Chad
Preaching Christ Church
Monday, September 1, 2008
Fanny Crosby
“And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into the level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.”
Isaiah 42:16 (ESV)
Fanny Crosby is a name I wish every Christian knew! Most of us know the songs she wrote, but far too few know her story. I would like to help change that! She was born March 24, 1820 in New York. She fell ill at 6 weeks old. A man who pretended to be a doctor, yet having no certification, caused her to go blind from maltreatment. Not long after, her father died leaving her and her mother alone. She was mostly raised by her Christian grandmother.
Even as a little girl, it was evident she was very gifted, particularly in poetry. At age 8, she wrote this poem concerning her blindness,
“Oh, what a happy soul I am
Although I cannot see!
I am resolved that in this world
Contented I will be.
How many blessings I enjoy
That other people don't,
To weep and sigh because I'm blind
I cannot, and I won't!”
As Fanny grew to an adult, it was clear she was talented, but she wasn’t a Christian, and although she enjoyed great success, even meeting Presidents and other government officials, she wasn’t born-again. In November of 1850, at the age of 30, she began to feel a need for God. She visited quite a number of revival meetings, but it wasn’t until the end of the month, on the 20th of November, that she became born-again! The congregation sang the glorious hymn written by Isaac Watts over a century prior in 1707, “Alas! And did my Savior Bleed.”
Alas! and did my Savior bleed, and did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?
Was it for crimes that I had done He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown! and love beyond degree!
Thus might I hide my blushing face while his dear Cross appears;
Dissolved my heart in thankfulness, and melt mine eyes to tears.
But drops of grief can ne’er repay the debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away- ‘tis all that I can do.
It was during the words, “Here, Lord, I give myself away – ‘tis all that I can do,” that she gave herself fully to the Lord and the light of the Gospel opened the blind eyes of her soul. She said of that night, “I surrendered myself to the Savior, and my very soul flooded with celestial light. I sprang to my feet, shouting, ‘Hallelujah.’”
Throughout the rest of her life, God used her to pen more than 8,000 poems of which many were put to hymns. Among her most loved are “Blessed Assurance”, “Sweet Hour of Prayer”, “Pass me not O Gentle Savior”, “Jesus, keep me near the cross”, and “Praise Him, praise Him.”
A well meaning minister once said to her, “I think it is a great pity that the Master did not give you sight when he showered so many other gifts upon you.” She responded, “Do you know that if at birth I had been able to make one petition, it would have been that I was born blind? Because when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior.”
What faith she had in Christ and the goodness of God! Fanny always joked that she would live to be over 100 years old, she nearly made it! She died at age 95. There is no doubt as she closed her eyes in death that she awoke to that beautiful face she longed to see.
“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.”
“It seemed in-tend-ed by the bless-ed prov-i-dence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dis-pen-sa-tion. If per-fect earth-ly sight were of-fered me to-mor-row I would not ac-cept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been dis-tract-ed by the beau-ti-ful and in-ter-est-ing things about me.”
- Fanny Crosby
1820 - 1915
Isaiah 42:16 (ESV)
Fanny Crosby is a name I wish every Christian knew! Most of us know the songs she wrote, but far too few know her story. I would like to help change that! She was born March 24, 1820 in New York. She fell ill at 6 weeks old. A man who pretended to be a doctor, yet having no certification, caused her to go blind from maltreatment. Not long after, her father died leaving her and her mother alone. She was mostly raised by her Christian grandmother.
Even as a little girl, it was evident she was very gifted, particularly in poetry. At age 8, she wrote this poem concerning her blindness,
“Oh, what a happy soul I am
Although I cannot see!
I am resolved that in this world
Contented I will be.
How many blessings I enjoy
That other people don't,
To weep and sigh because I'm blind
I cannot, and I won't!”
As Fanny grew to an adult, it was clear she was talented, but she wasn’t a Christian, and although she enjoyed great success, even meeting Presidents and other government officials, she wasn’t born-again. In November of 1850, at the age of 30, she began to feel a need for God. She visited quite a number of revival meetings, but it wasn’t until the end of the month, on the 20th of November, that she became born-again! The congregation sang the glorious hymn written by Isaac Watts over a century prior in 1707, “Alas! And did my Savior Bleed.”
Alas! and did my Savior bleed, and did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?
Was it for crimes that I had done He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown! and love beyond degree!
Thus might I hide my blushing face while his dear Cross appears;
Dissolved my heart in thankfulness, and melt mine eyes to tears.
But drops of grief can ne’er repay the debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away- ‘tis all that I can do.
It was during the words, “Here, Lord, I give myself away – ‘tis all that I can do,” that she gave herself fully to the Lord and the light of the Gospel opened the blind eyes of her soul. She said of that night, “I surrendered myself to the Savior, and my very soul flooded with celestial light. I sprang to my feet, shouting, ‘Hallelujah.’”
Throughout the rest of her life, God used her to pen more than 8,000 poems of which many were put to hymns. Among her most loved are “Blessed Assurance”, “Sweet Hour of Prayer”, “Pass me not O Gentle Savior”, “Jesus, keep me near the cross”, and “Praise Him, praise Him.”
A well meaning minister once said to her, “I think it is a great pity that the Master did not give you sight when he showered so many other gifts upon you.” She responded, “Do you know that if at birth I had been able to make one petition, it would have been that I was born blind? Because when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior.”
What faith she had in Christ and the goodness of God! Fanny always joked that she would live to be over 100 years old, she nearly made it! She died at age 95. There is no doubt as she closed her eyes in death that she awoke to that beautiful face she longed to see.
“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.”
“It seemed in-tend-ed by the bless-ed prov-i-dence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dis-pen-sa-tion. If per-fect earth-ly sight were of-fered me to-mor-row I would not ac-cept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been dis-tract-ed by the beau-ti-ful and in-ter-est-ing things about me.”
- Fanny Crosby
1820 - 1915
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