Persecution

Over the past couple of weeks I have dealt with the question of is there persecution here in America? The interesting thing for me is that this conversation came from three different groups of people.

I dug around in my archives and fond an old paper I had written on the subject dating back to 1987. Yes, I hate to admit it I’m feeling old today. While it is not the best writing I’ve ever done I decided to post it here with apologies for my youthful scribbling. My hope is to encourage those of you who are dealing with issues that at times seem overwhelming. For those of you have not suffered for the Faith, please know that the Holy Spirit says you will in Paul’s writings.

Persecution

Dr.Vallen Prest

10-07-87

Christians in America have been blessed with a measure of freedom and lack of persecution by and large from our government, civic and business leaders. Yet the Bible claims that “all who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” 2 Tim 3:12 (emphasis added). God didn’t say that just those in totalitarian regimes would suffer persecution. Rather all who live godly would, not might suffer persecution. What about believers in America or the rest of the West? Are we suffering persecution? We are faced with three possibilities.

Option #1: God was mistaken in assuring us that all of His godly children would suffer in this world. Obviously, this option is not possible since God does not lie. He has been so specific in His Word that persecution is not an option but rather a fact of life for the godly believer. (See 2 Tim 3:12; Matt 5:10-12; 2 Cor 12:10; Rom 5:3-4; Rom12:14; John 15:20)

Option #2: There are no true godly people living in America or any other part fo the free world. It seems statistically impossible that there are no godly people in the free world. Although this option is often hinted at and occasionally voiced by believers who have escaped persecution in their home countries and now live and minister here in the West. These godly people scold and cajole us for our lack of interest in the things of the Lord (often rightly so). But does this mean that there are no righteous people in America?

I contend that there must be a few, or God would destroy this country. Consider Abraham’s conversation with the Lord concerning the impending destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. God promised Abraham that if there were even ten (10) righteous men within the city, God would not destroy them (Gen 18:23-33). We all know that none were found with the possible exception of Lot, who is called “just Lot” in the New Testament (2 Pet 2:7). Therefore we must conclude that we have a few godly men in America or God would have destroyed this nation long ago, considering how corrupt, immoral and godless our society has become.

Option #3: The final possibility is that Christians in the free world suffer a different form or kind of persecution. Our brothers and sisters in many parts of the world suffer persecution almost exclusively from without. While believers in the free world most often suffer persecution from within.

As in any large family, brothers and sisters put on a united front when faced with a common enemy. When one of the family is attacked, the family usually rallies around this member and sibling rivalry is forgotten. But let the pressure from without stop and it isn’t long before the pressure builds up from within, and brothers and sisters are choosing up sides and fighting among themselves. We are all part of a spiritual family – God’s family. Yet in this world we still have our sinful nature with us. Often we do not get along very harmonious even though we have been commanded over and over again to love one another (John 15:17;13:34; 17:26; Rom 12:9-10; 13:8; 1 Cor 13:1-2; 16:14; Gal 5:13; Eph 4:2; Col 1:4; 1 Thess 3:12; 1 John 3:16; 4:11, 20-21; 2 John 5).

This infighting dates back to the very founding years of the Church of Christ. We see this internal persecution coming from at least three (3) different sources: Believers with differing views, Other ministers, and Believers from our own flock.

Believers with Differing Views

Paul, throughout his ministry had to deal with persecution both from without and also from within, specifically believers who did not fully understand his unique mission to the Gentiles. These Jewish believers wanted all Gentile believers to convert to Judaism. While we know that those who taught salvation through works were wrong and probably not even saved having not come to the understanding that salvation is not of works but by the grace of God (Eph 2:8-9). Others were truly saved but misunderstood God’s saving grace was being offered to all without the distinction of racial background or social status (1 Cor 12:13). Good men who were misguided and zealous in traveling from congregation to congregation caused much concern and mental anguish for the Apostle Paul, who had to deal with this problem throughout his ministry (See Gal 1:6-9; 2:2:11-21; Acts 15:1-29).

Today we have much the same thing with zealous misguided Christians who are intolerant to any view but their own. They malign and tear down any ministry that is not in 100% agreement with their own views. They have forgotten our Lord’s rebuke against Sectarianism found in Mark 9:38-41.

Other Ministers

Paul also had to deal with envious preachers who were critical of Paul’s motives and ministry. They sought to cause strife and division. These preachers were actually reveling in preaching the Gospel, believing that they were helping to cause Paul additional anguish during his imprisonment and perhaps hastening his demise (See Phil 1:15-17).

It’s interesting to note that even back in the First Century we had men of God who were envious of each other. Each one was trying to be the leader in the Christian community. Christian leaders were jealous of the popularity of one another, of the scope of another’s ministry and of another’s apparent success. These “godly” men were trying to tear each other down to build themselves up. They seemed to have forgotten that Christian leaders are called to be slaves to God and to one another (Mark 9:35).

What is wrong with many of our leaders today? 1 Corinthians 3:3 tells us “For you are yet carnal; for where as there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are you not carnal, and walk as men?”

Their wisdom is earthy, sensual even demonical for James 3:14-14 states that this kind of wisdom produces envy and strife. If this carnality is not checked it leads to further downward spiral to confusion and ultimately every evil work imaginable (James 3:16).

Notice how we are to react

God commands us in His Word to “not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another” (Gal 5:26) Paul praises God that the Gospel goes forth whatever the reason is (Phil 1:12-18). Paul further goes on the say “Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better then themselves.” (Phil 2:3).

Our Own Flock

Paul suffered persecution from his own flocks. Some of his very own converts, perhaps even close personal friends, were frustrated with Paul and certainly let him know their opinion. Throughout his ministry and born out trough his various epistles he was constantly defending what he was doing and even his very calling (1 Cor 9:1-27; Gal 1:10-2:21; Acts 14:26-15:1-12).

Today we have people in our own local churches that attack our motives, our actions, our calling, and even our ministry. Sometimes out of envy, sometimes out of fear and sometimes out of a failure to understand the body of Christ they try to destroy the very body that they claim to love. They are caught up in petty rivalries and jealousies. In our local churches we have become so used to having a maimed and crippled body that when God attempts to heal our bodies by giving us our missing parts we reject them as unneeded and unwanted. Often our flocks don’t realize that they are crippled and incapable if performing at the level God has called them to perform at. We persecute the very help that God has sent us (Matt 21:33-46)

We must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading in our lives and we must be tolerant of all believers as the attempt to serve God in the ministry to which they have been called.

A final thought, we need to open our arms wide to the sheep God has led to our local flock, realizing that the godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution in this world both now and until our Lord comes again. Let us therefore rejoice when we are counted worthy to suffer for His sake! “And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.” Acts 5:41!

The End

A caveat about suffering persecution, when dealing with persecution from within always take the situation to the Lord for verification that what you are going through because of Christ’s sake and not because of your personal agenda or own failings.

Too often I have seen people suffer because of their own pride or misapplication of Scripture believe they are “suffering for Jesus” when in actuality they brought it upon themselves.

Remember if we suffer for doing right, so did Christ…for us! The acceptance of the high cost of righteousness was inherited by Christianity. Jesus repeatedly warned of persecution, even from within households, and promised the Spirit’s assistance when answering charges (Mt 5:11–12; 10:16–23, 34–36; 23:34; Luke 6:26).

Pastor Val

Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth

Over the past few weeks I’ve had a number of issues that I’ve had to address. It concerns me that many believers are not careful with their interpretation of passages of Scripture. In some cases they pull a verse out of context to miss-prove a point. In other cases, they grab random phrases and make grand assumptions of doctrinal proportions.

An example of the latter would be a blog I read by a wonderful young believer who after reading the first chapter of the book of John claimed that all of the living Word was contained in the written Word. To some this sounds very religious, to others it sounds questionable, and to the theologian it is heresy.

First of all we need to be reminded that theology is simply the study of God. Therefore every believer should be a theologian. After all it is God’s will for us to get to know Him and have a relationship with Him. Unfortunately, most believers have grossly neglected their study of God and His Word. They have left it to “professional” Christians to do the study to create and protect orthodox doctrine.

This lack of knowledge of our God and His Word is what allows well meaning believers to make pronouncements like the one in the aforementioned blog. The living Logos (Word) could never be contained in a page, a book, a library or every book in the universe. He is God the Son, the second person of the triune God; in communion with the other two persons of the Trinity. At the incarnation He became fully human in addition to being fully God. We do him not only a disservice but we minimize His Godhood and His death payment for our sin and ultimately His resurrection by diminishing Him into a book.

The same author, John, tells us at the end of his book, named from him, that if all the deeds that Jesus did and all of the things He said were written down that all of the books in the world could not contain all of the information.

As far as miss-proving a point, a church leader recently used Philippians 3 to assure his church that the mistakes (read sins) of the past should be ignored and that they should start over doing things right from now on! You can read the passage below he used to “prove” his point.

¹² I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.
¹³ No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,
¹⁴ I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
¹⁵ Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you.
¹⁶ But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.
Philippians 3:12-16 (NLT)

So is that what this passage means? Are we to forget the past, ignore the sins of the fathers and go on? Is that Biblical?

Well before I address these questions let me start with how we should interpret Scripture. I call this the “Time Method.” Interpretation must always begin with what the passage meant to the original recipients of the message from God. I call this the “one time.” Scripture will always mean what it meant to the people it addressed. This is why 2000 years later we must work hard to understand the people of the time, the political situation, economic condition, geographical location and religious reality that they faced. This allows us better understand the message as they did.

Next, we must extrapolate what the universal implications are from the message. I call this the “all time.” Both of these “times” are part of what theologians call exegeting the passage.

After understanding the universal truth it must be applied to our current situation. This means that we must also exegete our society to know how the Biblical message applies today. I call this “now time.”

Another step in exegeting a passage includes reading the specific passage in context. Many mistakes can simply be avoided if we keep a specific passage in context. Finally, God never contradicts himself. For example, God doesn’t say one thing in the Old Testament and another thing in the New Testament.

By doing what at times is difficult work we arrive at what God wants us to know and how to apply this to the situations of our lives.

Now back to the passage in Philippians. We need to figure out what the things of the past are that are referring to. A cursory reading of the preceding verses provides us the answer. Paul speaks of his pedigree and his tenacity in obeying Scripture as he then understood it. He also tells us that the things that he formerly valued, he now considers refuse (actually Paul is very graphic in the original language!). So the past that Paul is talking about is the good that he thought he had previously accomplished. One commentator put it this way “Paul is saying stop resting on your laurels.” We need to strive until the very end of the race. Endurance is the key to finishing the race strongly.

The next question we need to address is: How important is the past? Should we forget the past? Hope for a better future?

God tells us that when he forgives us that our sins are forgotten. So in a sense the past becomes unimportant in regards to our relationship with God. But the past can not be ignored. Nehemiah prayed for forgiveness for the sins of the past and asked that The Lord forgive and restore the nation. (Nehemiah 1:4-11) The wrongs of the past can not be ignored until we are obedient in repentance, restitution and restoration. (For a fuller look at this issue see my blog “The 3 ‘R’s’ of Christian Living”)

Additionally God himself commands us to remember the past. In the fourth chapter of Joshua God commanded the nation of Israel to take 12 stones out of the Jordan River and pile them up as a testimony of God’s faithfulness in bringing the nation into the Promise Land. The memorial was to stand as a reminder for future generations of the Goodness of God.

The above is a positive reason to remember the past but what about negative treasons to remember the past? God commands Moses in Deuteronomy 31:19-21 to teach the nation of Israel a song that is used to remind them of the punishments of forgetting the past and its lessons. Historians tell us to ignore the past is to condemn ourselves to repeat it again and again.

In conclusion, let me say that Jesus promises us that the Holy Spirit will be our teacher if we allow him to edify us. We need to be Bereans in our approach to what our spiritual leaders teach us. Do the work of a theologian. Search the Scriptures to see if these things are true.

Good reading,

Pastor Val

Radical Faith

I’ve been thinking about the 11^th chapter of the book of Hebrews. This chapter is often called the “Heroes of the Faith” chapter. More recently I’ve been thinking we could subtitle it “Examples of Radical Faith” Each of these women and men were radical in their following God’s command and the faith that they had to have to trust God for the promises that he made to them. In some cases they came to the end of their lives still not having witnessed the fulfillment of the promise that God had made. Yet each of them still believed and trusted that God had not lied to them. To me that seems pretty radical. How about you?

Hebrews 11:6 seems to say that “where there is no risk there is no faith!” It appears that faith is found not in the safe warm and gooey middle but rather on the ragged scary edge of faith is where we find God’s purpose for our lives. Obedience is pitted against comfort and convenience. Often those around you say that you are crazy for being obedient to God’s call when it is inconvenient. So we must add that often discomfort, inconvenience and questionable reputation are often the results of radically following Jesus. But heroes are people who have acted at great discomfort and inconvenience to themselves and it is only after the fact that their reputation becomes impeccable.

In this results-driven society we look at outward results such as numbers whether people, decisions, baptisms, or money. God also is results driven, but he looks at the heart. Ultimately he looks for obedience. God defines success much different than man. He defines success as being obedient.

Chip Ingram put it this way, “Just remember that were there’s no risk, there’s no faith; where there’s no faith there’s no power or joy or intimacy with God…. A lot of churches that are considered great by people are considered hollow by God. They miss the common denominator of all great Christians: radical faith.”

God considered these heroes great not because they were fearless but because they were obedient in spite of their fear choosing a risky adventure to the status quo. My apologies to my more conservative readers for my next illustration, like a poker player who sees that the pot is worth everything, after looking at his hand and calculating the odds is willing to go “all in” to take the chance to will against the odds, the person of radical faith is willing to go “all in” in the service of his King. Knowing that the odds are in his favor to win the prize he perseveres to win.

Now don’t think that I’m saying we don’t look at the odds or seek the wisdom of counsel. The difference between faith and foolishness at times can be a thin line. But being obedient to God’s will is never risky business. It’s simply the best game in town and the only sure bet there is.

The difference between faith and foolishness and faith is not the degree of risk but rather the will of God.

All of us suffer from one major concern in our lives – FEAR. Fear of failure often paralyzes people from doing what they know they should do. I believe that fear is healthy but what is unhealthy is what your fear focuses on.

• Do you fear financial ruin? Me too
• Do you fear failure? Me too
• Do you fear looking foolish? Me too
• Do you fear what others think? Me too

What is more important fear of man, or fear of God?

Probably 15 years ago, it finally dawned on me that I was preparing Sunday services with an eye on what man thought rather then caring what God thought! When I realized my failure to be concerned about God’s thoughts I had to not only repent but change my mind set and my way of doing things.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The Bible doesn’t mean a petrifying fear but a fear that recognizes the transcendence of a holy God who has chosen to come near. A fear that acknowledges His otherness and our sinfulness and yet he still desires to be “with us.” Check it out, each time an angel or God appears to humans most often the first words that we humans hear is “Fear not!” God wants to hang out with us and wants us to succeed!

Now that’s radical!

Pastor Val

The Three “R”s of Christian Living

The Three “R”s of Christian Living

Recently I was thinking about education and what is necessary for person to be properly educated. I was reminded that we have always considered three things essential for a good education. You know what I mean, the “3 R’s” (Reading, Riting and Rithmetic). When it comes to Christianity I also got to thinking that there three “R”s that are also very important to Christian living: Repentance, Reconciliation & Restitution. These three “R”s are essential for life in the body and the lack of even one of these can cause the body not only hurt but also harm.

So what are these Rs and what does it mean to us in our search to be a healthy body?

Repentance, according to the Baker Biblical Encyclopedia, means a literal change of mind, not about individual plans, intentions, or beliefs, but rather a change in the whole personality from a sinful course of action to God. It means a 180 degree turn in direction. One admits that they were wrong and changes their way. This is the beginning of the salvific process and adoption into the Family of God.

After we have become a follower of Jesus Christ we continue to practice repentance whenever we sin (fail to hit the mark) in our Christian life. (1 John 1:9) Additionally when we have harmed another we need to repent to that person as well. This is so important that Jesus teaches us that if we have sinned against another we are not even to worship until we repent. (Matt 5:23-24)

Speaking of seeking forgiveness let me just suggest that when we ask for forgiveness we need to take responsibility for our actions. We often want to blame circumstances or others for our actions. I remember that I used to chuckle when years ago one of my relatives apologized by saying “I’m sorry you made me do that!” That is not repentance. A final thought would be to make sure that in taking responsibility we accept it in the first person not the third. It is so much easier to say that “Vallen Prest (substitute your own name) was wrong” then to say “I was wrong!” Don’t think so? Try it for yourself and see if it isn’t so. Third person repentance to some degree lets us off the hook.

Restoration happens when friendly relationships and of peace replace hostility and alienation. Ordinarily it also includes the removal of the offense which caused the disruption of peace and harmony. In the New Testament reconciliation also denotes a changed relationship in which formerly estranged persons or elements experience a restored harmony. Christians should seek reconciliation between themselves and any estranged community member, especially before offering a gift at the altar (Matt. 5:24) or going to settle disputes before a magistrate (Luke 12:58).

Matthew 5:24 speaks of reconciliation as an important factor in restoring a relationship with both God and the person we have harmed. The goal is always a reestablishment of broken relationships (either between God and a human or person to person) Galatians 6:1.

One might ask “What if the person I have offended is unwilling to forgive me or reconcile?” Seeking forgiveness is important for the person who has sinned. It reestablishes our relationship with Father. Jay Adams suggested that we think of it as a game of tennis. We are commanded by God to serve the ball of repentance to the offended. Regardless of if the ball is returned or not we have been obedient in serving up forgiveness. To forgive the one who has harmed us releases us from the burden of anger and frustration. It also keeps our relationship with Father fresh and unhindered.

The final “R” is restitution. This is the return of something lost or stolen so that the original situation is restored. This central theme of the OT law is supremely fulfilled through Jesus Christ making restitution for Adam’s sin, thus restoring fellowship with God and hope of eternal life. T. C. Oden says that restitution re-establishes equality where an unjust taking has caused inequality.

There are three levels of positive effects accompany acts of restitution (or reparation):

Exterior penances are performed principally to produce three effects:

• To satisfy for past sins.
• To overcome ourselves, so that sensuality will be obedient to reason and our lower inclinations be subject to higher ones.
• To seek and find some grace or gift that we wish to obtain, as for instance … the solution of some doubt that is troubling us. (Ignatius Loyola, Spiritual Exercises, pp. 62–63)

In Luke 19 in speaking of Zacchaeus’ repentance and subsequent salvation it is Zacch’s restitution that causes Jesus to proclaim in Luke 19:9 “Today salvation has come to this house!” Restitution is incredibly important to the 3 R process of Christian living.

Have you completed the process of the 3 “R”s? Are any left undone? All three “R”s are important for the life of the church. Repentance becomes a hollow, feigned act, without restoration and restitution.

Still studying my “R”s

Pastor Val

Residual Light

Recently I was talking with a friend who used a new term that he had heard in a management seminar. The term “residual light” actually comes from astronomy and is used to describe the light that still exists from a star that has died. You see starlight created today in the Milky Way traveling at the speed of light (299 792 458 miles per second) takes years and years to reach our sight here on earth.

According to the website www.astronomyexpert.co.uk/TheDeathOfStars.html there are two primary ways for a star to stop emitting light. It can simply die a long slow death and go cold or it can go super nova and explode with a spectacular light show and creating a black hole when it dies.

This idea of starlight started me thinking about light and how it is dealt with in the Bible.

· Light is seen as a symbol for what is pleasant, good, or uplifting, and is especially related to God. “The Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory” (Is 60:19). The psalmist exulted, “The Lord is my light and my salvation,” and proceeded to ask, “whom shall I fear?” (27:1). God is said to be robed with light (Ps 104:2) and light dwells with him (Dn 2:22).

· During the plagues in Egypt the Egyptians experienced thick darkness while the Israelites had light (Ex 10:23). When the Israelites left Egypt, they were led in the wilderness by a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night (Ex 13:21). The pillar gave them light while their enemies were in darkness (Ex 14:20). In later days Israel remembered that God did not abandon his people even when they sinned; the pillar of fire was always there to show them the right way (Neh 9:19; cf. Neh 9:12; Pss 78:14; 105:39).

· A Godly leader is sometimes identified with light. Thus when the Israelites decided that King David should no longer risk his life on the battlefield they said, “You shall no more go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel” (2 Sam 21:17).

· Sometimes judgment on Israel is expressed as a withdrawal of light: “Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord?… Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?” (Amos 5:18, 20; cf. Is 13:9, 10).

· In the Old Testament the absence of light is a synonym for disaster. There are those who “grope in the dark without light” (Job 12:25). Bildad saw the light of the wicked put out in punishment and death (Job 18:5–17). The wicked will be “thrust from light into darkness, and driven out of the world” (Job 18:18). In the aftermath of the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem was the lament, “He has driven and brought me into darkness without any light” (Lam 3:2).

· In the New Testament Jesus said, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12; 9:5), and “I have come as light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness” (John 12:46). Jesus told his followers to believe in the light while it was with them (John 12:35 Christ not only brought a revelation from God as a revealer but He himself was and is the revelation and light himself. (John 1:1–10)

· Followers of Christ are also called light in the New Testament. When they are called the light of the world, there is clearly no saving significance in the description. They do not accomplish the world’s salvation. But they do point it out. It is their function as redeemed people to live as redeemed people. They are to show the quality of life proper to the people of God and in this way act as light to the people of the world. They are to let their light shine before the world in such a way that people will see their good deeds and so come to praise God (not, be it noted, those who do the deeds, Matt. 5:16). It is important for those in this position to make full use of the light they have. It is tragedy when the light that is in them is darkness (Matt 6:23; Luke 11:35).

You and I know many churches and even people that have been great lights in the past but today like dying stars have either become cold and lost their fire or have gone super nova and have exploded wreaking havoc not only with those closest to them but in the community around them.

The light that is Christ, who dwells within his people, is supposed to have illuminated us. If we ignore the illumination he brings us and live like those in the dark, then indeed we are in deep darkness. We are worse than others because we know what light is and what it can mean to us, and have turned away from it.

How do we fix this lack of light in our lives? Two things: First recognize it and repent (that means change your ways) and second, like the story of the wedding party waiting for the bridegroom be prepared with enough oil for your lamp so that when the time comes your lamp is lit and shining at it’s full capacity! Third, we must stay connected to the source of our Light.

Anyone got a light?

Pastor Val

Finding God’s Will

So often we think of God’s will being a specific path and that missing it will cause us to miss His perfect will. One problem with this understanding of God’s will is that it only takes one of us to mess up getting God’s will right for us to cause the entire universe to fail in their goal of following God’s will. Like a string of dominos once one falls the entire line goes down. There seems to be some truth in this when we look at the concept of original sin. After all by one man sin entered into the world and death by that one man we call Adam. And it is also true that by one man the world is redeemed. The entire world, even the entire universe is in the process of being recreated to God’s original intent.

But often the ways of God are often multifaceted (think Sovereignty of God vs. free will of man or individual vs. group responsibility). It would appear that God’s will is for a destination and he will allow us choices to arrive at the destination. For example God did not plan on Israel to have a king, and yet when they demand a king God grants them their request. Even though they clearly disobeyed God ultimately the King that they eventually got became the human ancestor of the Messiah! God uses our free will to bring about His will for our lives.

If you want to know what God’s will for your life is, I know what it is and I’m here to tell you (grin)!

For believers, God’s will is for us is to be conformed to His Son’s image (Rom 8:29). This in reality means that His desire is for us to be conformed to God’s image. What I mean by that last sentence is that not only is Jesus God, He also looks just like God. (John 14:9)

God’s plan for us is to be conformed to Christ’s image. The human author of the book of Romans in the Bible calls this transformation and it is accomplished by the renewing our mind. (Rom 12:2) The word transformation in the Greek could be translated morphed. Like a caterpillar we are called to morph into a new creature, a “spiritual butterfly.”

From the very beginning the core of Christianity is centered around change. To adapt is not an easy thing it is easier to stay the same. Too often we see our rigidity as a virtue. Character doesn’t make you hard, nor does it make you soft. Godly character makes you pliable in the Holy Spirit’s hands.

The Bible is all about change:

• Transformation = change
• Conversion = change
• Repentance = change
• Sanctification = change

Getting ready to change

Pastor Val

Repentance Gone Wrong

I was surfing some blogs tonight and ran across this blog on the Acts 29 blog site.

I was moved by this blog and wanted to share a portion of it with you. If you would like to check out the entire blog you can find it here http://ow.ly/1nSMl

REPENTANCE GONE WRONG

False repentance conflicts with the biblical pattern by displaying our pride and self-interest instead of displaying contrition. Consider the example of the nation of Israel in Psalm 78:32-35:

In spite of all this, they still sinned;

despite his wonders, they did not believe.

So he made their days vanish like a breath,

and their years in terror.

When he killed them, they sought him;

they repented and sought God earnestly.

They remembered that God was their rock,

the Most High God their redeemer.

Israel clearly experienced a severe discipline at the hands of the Lord. This judgment obviously produced a very unhappy situation for God’s people, driving them to seek God in repentance. They earnestly repented, remembered and sought the Lord. Surely this repenting would rectify their familial relationship with God. But notice how God views their repentance as the Psalm continues:

But they flattered him with their mouths;

they lied to him with their tongues.

Their heart was not steadfast toward him;

they were not faithful to his covenant. (78:36-37)

Here we see the illustration of pretender repentance: words without heart. Israel’s repentance was insincere. They told God that they were sorry with their mouths, but He knew that their hearts were still committed to slavishly following their sins.

Instead of real brokenness over their iniquities, God’s people feigned repentance to obtain rescue from the consequences of their sins, but not the sins themselves. As such, God did not recognize their repentance – because pretender repentance is not repentance at all.

Israel’s example should help us see that sometimes the greatest battle with sin is our very repentance of it. Listen to Paul’s encouragement to the church at Corinth:

As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved,

but because you were grieved into repenting. For

you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss

through us. For godly grief produces a repentance

that leads to salvation without regret, whereas

worldly grief produces death. (1 Corinthians 7:9-10)

Pretender repentance is a dead end. If we demonstrate anything but godly grief over our sin, we will experience a lifetime of losses. Therefore, if we would fight sin well, some of us may actually need to repent of how we have repented in the past so that the grace of God is exposed and not our arrogance.

This is one of those times when I wish I had written this blog. I would only add that pretender repentance makes us feel good about ourselves but it rarely fools godly people and never fools a holy God!

Lord forgive me of the times when I have played the repentance game!

Pastor Val