My Prayer

Lord, for all those Christians who want to fight a cultural war, disarm them. For all those who want to do battle, disengage them. For all those who do not know your greatest commandment which is to love you with all our heart, soul, mind, and our neighbor as ourselves, teach us. Change our hearts first. In Christ’s blessed name…Amen.

It Hurts

It hurts me when I read or hear of someone who has died and I know they did not have Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. It gnaws on me that they are now spending eternity in hell without a way out. It makes me want to believe in purgatory or Universalism, although I cannot accept either because scripture says differently.

RC Sproul writes this about hell:

We have often heard statements such as “War is hell” or “I went through hell.” These expressions are, of course, not taken literally. Rather, they reflect our tendency to use the word hell as a descriptive term for the most ghastly human experience possible. Yet no human experience in this world is actually comparable to hell. If we try to imagine the worst of all possible suffering in the here and now we have not yet stretched our imaginations to reach the dreadful reality of hell.

Hell is trivialized when it is used as a common curse word. To use the word lightly may be a halfhearted human attempt to take the concept lightly or to treat it in an amusing way. We tend to joke about things most frightening to us in a futile effort to declaw and defang them, reducing their threatening power.

There is no biblical concept more grim or terror-invoking than the idea of hell. It is so unpopular with us that few would give credence to it at all except that it comes to us from the teaching of Christ Himself.

There have been many speculations as to what hell is. Some say it is fire and brimstone, burning eternally, some say it is separation from God, while others, such as RC Sproul say that God will eternally be there in wrath and judgment. All are horrible.

I agree with RC Sproul in that if the fire and gnashing of teeth is a symbol, that is worse than the symbol.

If we truly think about people that we know,love, and admire, going to hell without Christ, maybe that would spur us to begin to live the Great Commission Resurgence, and to begin to prayerfully give the Gospel to anyone and everyone.

I have gone through the heartache of knowing those who have died without Christ. Some in my family. Friends. It is agony knowing that I will not have the opportunity to give them Christ.

I also know that God in His Sovereignty will make opportunities available, if not through me, then through someone else, for those I have not been able to reach.

Reading through the deaths of celebrities these past few weeks has caused me to pause, as I am burdened that those who have died did not have Christ as their Lord and Savior. I don’t want to see another lost soul die without Christ.

Think and read about hell this week, and no matter your view of what hell is like, think about the lost who are dying daily. There are no more opportunities for them. How many more do we want to see go to hell?

Think about this as some are turning the CRR into a Calvinist vs. anti-Calvinist issue. Focusing on whether we drink alcohol in moderation or abstain. While this is being focused on, there are those who are dying without Christ and going to hell. That is the bottom line. What is being discussed is folly. So, think about hell this week. Then, maybe our perspectives will begin to change.

Believe me, Satan would much rather you focus on the non-essentials. He would like that very much. So far, we seem to be pleasing him. And by all means, don’t let gifted women, or anyone you disagree with theologically among Southern Baptists join in your evangelistic efforts, because that is just less people he has to worry about giving the good news.

And This Is The Power Of The Gospel…

Rom 10:13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Rom 10:14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
Rom 10:15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
Rom 10:16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?”
Rom 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Joe Thorn has crafted a powerful post describing the conversion of his father. I read this via Trevin Wax. Joe writes:

I grew up with very loving, supportive parents. I always knew how fortunate I was to have them (except for a couple years in my mid teens when I hated everyone in the world). My dad and I have always been close, and I have fond memories from my childhood of us playing Frisbee, boxing, watching a ton of movies together, and having long talks about love and life. And though I had many great friends when I married Jen, I asked my Dad to be my best man in our wedding. What I didn’t have in my childhood home was the gospel. In fact I didn’t even sit through a worship service until my teens when new friends began to tell me about Jesus.

He then goes on to describe the nineteen years of prayer for his dad that the Lord graciously answered along with the wonderful transformation that has taken place.

God is working among family members and friends of mine, it’s the power of the gospel that leads to faith in Jesus Christ. I’m almost convinced that the number of people in hell will be far less than those in heaven. How great is our God. How great is Christ.

Also, Michael Spencer of Internet Monk has a four minute video by Matt Chandler(one of my favorite speakers) that shows the relevancy of a Christ centered gospel as opposed to topical morality sermons. It’s worth the four minutes to watch I promise. As usual Matt Chandler is dead on target.

Finally A White Paper I Can Be Excited About

Thom S Rainer has written a most excellent White Paper entitled The Gospel Remedies/ Pastoral Malpractice

Dr. Rainer writes:

I would consider pastoral malpractice among the greatest treasons a minister can commit
against the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, it is practiced weekly without inhibition.
What do I mean by pastoral malpractice? I mean ministers who stand and preach a gospel
other than God’s rightful need for punitive justice against our sin and His wrath being appeased
by pouring out upon Christ judgment intended for us. He in turn sets us in right legal standing
before Himself, through faith in what Jesus has done, while simultaneously giving to us His holy
righteousness.
Regrettably, too many evangelical churches have become centers for motivational
speaking where congregants learn that “God helps those who help themselves;” that sin is
something that keeps us from reaching our full potential, not an infinite offense against the
Creator who demands from His creation unblemished righteousness.

Read the rest