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OH YEAH? WHAT PROMISE?

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PROMISES POSTPONED

promiseBy Ken Blue

“If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” John 14:14

Many, in this present dispensation, are confused and puzzled when reading these prayer promises and discovering that they don’t work for them. They are left with a few options. One, they doubt their own faith. Did not the Lord say, “All things are possible to him that believeth.”? Failure to see God answer prayer has led some to doubt the truthfulness of the Scriptures.  Some assume their answer will come, sometime in the distant future.  None of these approaches to the promise are correct.

The problem lies with the readers’ failure to understand the purpose of the Lord’s ministry while He was on earth. There is no thought here of a promise to a body of Jews and Gentiles, comprising the church. The first thing we must realize is that the Lord’s ministry was not about the church of this dispensation of grace. His ministry was to Israel, and it was under the dispensation of the Law.

Another truth one must recognize is that Jesus was speaking to and about His disciples. They were assured assigned places of leadership as judges under the new covenant in the kingdom. “That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Luke 22:30.

Since the kingdom was rejected by the nation along with its miracles, wonders and prayer promises have been postponed until God jump starts His program again with Israel. The twelve disciples will be resurrected and given special places of governorship over the nation. Working together as a body, they are assured of His presence, power, and provision. At that time, they will confer with each other in decision making. Like the choosing of Matthias to replace Judas, they will pray and ask for God’s will to be done, and it will be granted to them. They will ask and they will receive. This is not a prayer promise to the church of this dispensation of Grace.

THINGS PASTORS FEAR

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HOW FEAR MOLDS OUR PERSONALITY AND CHARACTER

fear

By Ken Blue

We may become so accustom to living with fear, we are unaware it exist. It becomes a way of life, and it molds our character and personality. Although most pastors will deny his fears, excuses and paralysis betray him.

There are several things pastors fear, and among them is the fear of failure. I’ve see many of these young men. They usually mask it with verbosity and an overabundance of confidence. Talk becomes a substitute for action, and appearance a substitute for leadership.

I remember attempting to help one of my grandchildren create a budget and get out of debt. After a few days of inaction on her part, I ask why the delay. She told me that she had failed at everything she did, so why should she take on another project certain to fail. Her previous failures, and her prophecies of the future put her in a straitjacket and kept her in bondage.

Leaders understand that you always fail more than you succeed, but they learn from their failures, and discover the more you try the more successes you will achieve. The homerun king always strikes out more than he hits. However, he also knows if he doesn’t swing the bat, very little will happen. Sad to say, many pastors are afraid to step up to the plate. They fear they will strike out. So, they play it safe and just stand there.

The second fear that paralyzes pastors is the fear of success. You might question this phobia, and be the last to acknowledge its existence, but it is very real. Many pastors fear church growth. Success would mean more responsibility and commitment. Growth would mean change, and others would receive some of the attention enjoyed by the pastor. New babies demand a sharing of the toys.

[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Fear can put you in a straitjacket and keep you in bondage.[/pullquote]

Success means that someone else may be able to do things better than the pastor, therefore many refuse to develop people or give important ministries to them. The pastor becomes the bottleneck to growth. You cannot succeed unless you change, and success forces the church to change.

A third fear is that of rejection. Some pastors are more concerned about what other pastors think of them than they are their own congregation. Once pastors form a structured “fellowship” there will always be a battle for leadership. Privileges and accolades will be granted or withheld by the Godfathers. Thus, the pastor fears he might do something to offend those “who seem to be somewhat.” (Gal.2:6).

The solution is to learn all you can about how to pastor your church. If all you are doing is preaching to the choir and reading books by those who are obsessed with “standards” they require of you; you will never overcome your fears. Confidence comes with learning, experience, and trust in the Lord.

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10.

IS IT EVER RIGHT TO DO WRONG TO DO RIGHT?

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By Ken Blue

“And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them.” Joshua 2:5.

“prag•ma•tism (pr²g“m…-t¹z”…m) n. 1. Philosophy. A movement consisting of varying but associated theories, originally developed by Charles S. Peirce and William James and distinguished by the doctrine that the meaning of an idea or a proposition lies in its observable practical consequences. 2. A practical, matter-of-fact way of approaching or assessing situations or of solving problems.” American Heritage Dictionary.

There is no lack of pastors and evangelist who are eager to justify their ministry methods while condemning those of others. Therefore, if you use any methods, not approved by them, you are accused of pragmatism. They say you are doing wrong, (promotion), in an attempt to achieve a good outcome, (salvation of sinners).

God never ask us to turn off our brain or reject common sense in life or ministry. You should never do wrong; but God will be the judge of all our actions and what is wrong. Let me list a few pragmatic actions in Scripture, and life; and you decide what you would do.

Do you condemn Rahab for her lies? Did the end justify her means? Would you have exposed the spies or would you have refused a pragmatic approach to the problem? She told the authorities, “…that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not…” Joshua 2:5. Rahab flat out lied! Yet, Hebrews eleven list her among the heroes of faith, her name is found in the genealogy of Christ, and James says she was justified! “Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? James 2:25. Now preacher, are you going to justify a lying prostitute, who lied to save people from physical destruction and with the same breath condemn pastors who use promotions to try to save souls from hell?

An old Prophet lied to a young prophet to see if he would obey God. “He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.” 1 Kings 13:18. The old prophet was used to test the young man. You decide if he was right or wrong; still, he did not lose his prophetic ability. (V. 32).

If you needed to get a member of your family to the emergency room, would you break the law and exceed the speed limit if you thought is necessary? Remember, God ordained governments.

Is it is wrong for the police to mislead a suspect when cross examining him? Does it upset you as much as church promotions?
If the Gestapo came to where you were hiding Jews from Hitler, would you reveal the presence of the Jews? What would you do? Would your actions justify the end?

David ate bread that was unlawful for him to eat. Would you have condemned him? “3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; 4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?” Matthew 12:3-4.

The midwives lied about the male children born in Egypt. “And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.” Exodus 1:19. These women lied about this matter. What was God’s response? “20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. 21 And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.” Exodus 1:20-21. Did the results justify their action? You know the answer.

These examples are not given to justify anything that would displease God. However, much of what we condemn in others may not displease God at all. What we do in our practical life many times betrays our theology. Your answer to the above examples will demonstrate that you too, believe the end is justified by the means, in some cases.

“The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.” Matthew 11:19 . “Wisdom has seen fit to justify both courses (taken by John and Jesus, note, Mt. 11:18, above) but you hypocrites condemn them. You would condemn any course taken by any godly man, for you seek to justify your acts of darkness and rejection of truth.” —Dake’s Study Notes.

It is a either ignorance and dishonesty for pastors to assign negative titles to other with whom they disagree. A list of words deem unsavory are: pragmatic, contemporary, progressive, liberal and compromise. If this isn’t sufficient to discredit the brother; they connection them with someone you might differ with. Such names as, Bullinger, Ruckman, Hyles, Graham, Chappell, Warren, Stam, Jones and Falwell. Any person who would read, associate, or quote these men, must be a terrorist, a compromiser, or at worst, a pragmatist.

NO RAPTURE IN REVELATION CHAPTER FOUR!

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Trumpet blowingBy Ken Blue

“After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.” Revelation 4:1.

We find it most interesting that the strongest advocates of a literal interpretation of the Bible are the very ones who spiritualize it when it supports their tradition or theology. No place is this more evident than in the book of Revelation.

Their first error is to spiritualize the first three chapters when dealing with the seven churches. We are led to believe that each church represents a specific period in church history. Of course, today we are living in the Laodicea period. In order to do this, they must place the first three chapters in the dispensation of grace and run bring the church to Revelation chapter four. This is done in spite of the fact that John was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day. “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,” Revelation 1:10. There are those who would have us believe this means John was in a state of spiritual ecstasy on Sunday. Neither of these are true to the context of the Revelation.

The Lord’s Day is not Sunday; it is that period of judgment known as the tribulation. All references to it speak of the ominous judgment on Israel and the nations. (See Daniel and Joel). Like Ezekiel, John was caught forward by the Spirit into that coming Lord’s Day. “And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.” Ezekiel 8:3. This event best illustrates what John meant when he said he was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day. He was on the earth, in the Lord’s Day, when he saw the vision of the first three chapters. Then he was transported, in the vision, to heaven to see things transpiring around the throne in chapter four and five.

The rapture of the church takes place long before Revelation 1:1. Nothing in the book is about the body of Christ, the church of this dispensation. The seven churches are seven Jewish assemblies.

John is not a type of the church. His ascension is not a type of the rapture, and the seven churches are not types of seven church periods. Bullinger believes the seven churches represent seven periods of Old Testament history. So, take your pick. Regardless, there is no rapture of the church in Revelation chapter four.

SHOULD BAPTIST CHURCHES HAVE ALTARS?

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By Ken Blue

“1. An elevated place or structure before which religious ceremonies may be enacted or upon which sacrifices may be offered. 2. A structure, typically a table, before which the divine offices are recited and upon which the Eucharist is celebrated in Christian churches.” – The American Heritage Dictionary.

Having been saved and reared in Baptist churches all my life, it never occurred to me that much of what we do is steeped in tradition. We have borrowed these from Judaism and the Catholic Church. One of these is the so-called “altar.”

One way the altar is justified is by placing the tithes and offering on the communion table as an offering from the people; Thus the sacrificial altar. Another defense of the altar is to sing, Is Your All On The Altar Of Sacrifice Laid? Then we plead with Christians and sinners to “come forward to the altar and get right with God.

Thus, we, like Catholics, have come to accept the altar as part of the church furniture, and getting people to it is the goal of the sermon. Coming to it is an act of sacrifice, dedication, and surrender.

None of the church epistles have any suggestion that such an apparatus was to be installed. The idea would probably have been abhorred by the early church.

The following information concerning altars in Protestant churches is taken from Wikipedia Encyclopedia.
“A wide variety of altars exist in various Protestant denominations. Some Churches, such as Lutheran and Methodist will have altars very similar to Anglican or Catholic ones, keeping with their sacramental understanding of the Eucharist. In Protestant churches from Reformed, Baptist, Congregational, and Non-denominational traditions, it is very common for the altar to have on it only an open Bible and a pair of candlesticks. Many of these groups use a very simple wooden table, known as a Communion Table, adorned perhaps with only a linen cloth, and would avoid any suggestion of a sacrifice being offered.

Some evangelical churches practice what is referred to as an altar call, whereby those who wish to make a new spiritual commitment to Jesus Christ are invited to come forward publicly. 
[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Tradition is a powerful thing.[/perfectpullquote]

It is so named because the supplicants gather at the altar located at the front of the church (however, the invitation may be referred to as an “altar call” even if there is no actual altar present). Most altar calls occur at the end of the sermon…This is a ritual in which the supplicant makes a prayer of penitence (asking for his sins to be forgiven) and faith (accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior).

Altar calls may also invite those who are already fully members of the Christian community to come forward for specific purposes other than conversion; for example, to pray for some need, to rededicate their lives after a lapse, or to receive a particular blessing (such as the Gifts of the Holy Spirit) or if they are called to certain tasks such as missionary work.”

So, the question is, should Baptist churches have altars and an altar call? If not, how would we carry on business? Tradition is a powerful thing. Should we, or could we function as well without the altar?