Pastor’s E-Pistle

INTRODUCTION:  Think about some of the people you come in contact with regularly (neighbors, workmates, family, friends, acquaintances).  What seem to be the basic motives behind the why they live the way they live and why they make the decisions they make?  What makes them different than you?  Would they think that they are different than you are in their motivations?

 

Central Idea:  When we understand God’s magnificent and boundless grace, we become motivated by gratitude and love to respond with a life devoted to Him.

 

I           Examining Grace

 

We stand everyday in the same grace that brought us justification.  Just as grace in salvation is open to much misinterpretation and misunderstanding, so is grace in living.  To avoid license, we tend to add legalism, and vis-a-versa.  The solution to the problem is to be so gripped by the magnificence and boundless generosity of God’s grace that we respond out of gratitude rather than out of a sense of duty.

 

            A         The “Ought To” syndrome.

 

“I ought to read my Bible.”  “I ought to witness.”  “I ought to be more committed to my wife.”  “I ought to be more disciplined.”  “I ought to be more obedient.”  While it is true that most of us should do more of these things, the question is what is behind the “ought?”  The word “ought” carries the idea of obligation.

 

1                    Obligated because of my debt

 

It is easy for us to understand the enormous cost of our redemption through the payment of Christ, and live with a sense of indebtedness.

 

Have you ever been bothered at Christmas time because someone gave you a gift or sent you a card, and now you feel like you have reciprocate?  That is the idea here.  Life lived with this type of motivation is empty, powerless, and will go without reward.  The focus of my life is self, because I am motivated to pay off my debt.

 

Many people walk away from the faith because they feel that it is impossible to pay off their debt, so they just quit trying.  Others convince themselves that no matter what they do, it is never good enough, so why bother?

 

Where do you think people get these sort of ideas?  Do you think they come from other believers, from Pastor’s in pulpits, from parents?

 

2                    Obligated because of my duty

 

“Happiness is not found by looking for it, rather it is stumbles over on the road to duty.” 

 

How does the quote strike you?  I would whole heartedly agree that life should not be lived with happiness as its goal, and that we will discover happiness as we carry out our commitments in life.  However, we must be careful not to give the impression that life is about putting our noses to the spiritual grindstone and “toughing it out!”

 

God has not given us a list of spiritual duties that we are to fulfill.  He hasn’t given us a checklist for us to fulfill.  These very thoughts are the most paralyzing thing in all the world to genuine relationship.  If God merely wanted men to carry out His wishes arbitrarily, He could easily have accomplished that by coercion.  Instead, He purchased our redemption through grace.

 

Would you consider a marriage that is based completely on duty a good marriage?  The next time you do something nice for your spouse and they acknowledge the kindness, respond to them by saying, “I am just doing what I have to do,” and see what kind of response you get? Why should we expect God’s response to be any different?

 

A life lived purely out of duty will be a life of empty service and sacrifice, and devoid of the joy of living by grace.

 

3                    Obligated because of my guilt

 

There are many who due to their past pre-salvation, or due to their failings after conversion live their lives to always try to satisfy the crying of their own conscience.

 

Picture the parent who due to selfishness precipitates a divorce and realizes the great toll that the decision has their child, and desiring to still have a relationship with that child through feelings of great remorse begins to lavish him with gifts and trips, and even by allowing things that they never would have allowed before.  In a sense, the motivation is to have a relationship with their child.  The question is, what kind of relationship will they have?  Is it truly the relationship the Child needs and actually wants?  The relationship is actually being pursued in the fashion that it is in order to attempt to ease the guilt from the pain that they have caused their child.

 

How many believers live their lives this very way with God.  Just as the relationship with the hurt child will never be what it is intended to be, so our relationship with our heavenly Father will also be skewed.

 

Micah 6:1-8  Hear ye now what the Lord saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. [2] Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord’s controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the Lord hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel. [3] O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me. [4] For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. [5] O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the Lord.

    [6] Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? [7] Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? [8] He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

 

The people of God are trying to carry out their obligation to God.  They have focused on their works to the point that their was no genuine heart for God in their service. They, while trying to appease God, walked away from Him.  In frustration (6-7), they have come to the place of quitting because they feel like they can never please God.  On the other hand, God says that all of their service and sacrifice was absolutely pointless, in fact it was viewed by Him as their turning away from Him (3).  What God wanted was a life marked by righteousness, fidelity, and humble fellowship.

 

 

            B         The Opportunity of grace

 

Matthew 15:8   This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

 

“The final test by which all actions shall be tried is motive.”  Motive matters!  God cares about our heart, in fact, He cares as much about our motivation as He does about our performance.

 

Grace affords us the opportunity to live for God out of gratitude and for the purpose of giving Him glory rather than obedience performed out the legalistic motive of fear of the consequences or to gain favor with God.

 

A heartfelt grasp of God’s grace – far from creating an indifferent or careless attitude in us – will actually provide us the only motivation that is pleasing to Him.  Only when we are thoroughly convinced that the Christian life is entirely of grace are we able to serve Him out of a grateful and loving heart.

 

Having a God-ward motive is not a feeling or an inclination.  Grace living is not merely doing what is right because I feel like it, and when I don’t feel like, I don’t.  Motive is rational.  It is the reasoned decision to live and serve due to gratitude and love.

 

A parent can care for a child because if he doesn’t the state will arrest him, or to get the child to stop screaming, or because he loves him.  Only the last of these motives is not self-serving.

 

II         Exploring Grace

 

            A         1 Chron. 28:9 And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

 

Proverbs 16:2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits.

 

1 Cor. 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

 

Why are motives so important to God?   

How do our motives affect the outcome of what we do?

Think of an example of how wrong motives can undo right action.

 

            B         Look for the false motives in these passages:

 

John 12:42-43 Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: [43] For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

 

Galatians 6:12-13 As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. [13] For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh.

 

Col. 2:16-23 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: [17] Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. [18] Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, [19] And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.

    [20] Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, [21] (Touch not; taste not; handle not; [22] Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? [23] Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.

 

            C         Look for the right motives in these passages:

 

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

 

2 Cor. 5:14-15 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: [15] And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

 

2 Cor. 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

 

Rev. 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

 

D         For each area listed rate your motivations on a scale of 1 – selfish motives to 5 – godly motives.

 

_____  Time spent in prayer

_____  Time spent in worship (attending Church)

_____  Bible Study

_____  Bible reading

_____  Scripture reading

_____  Building relationships with unbelievers

_____  Helping young believers grow

_____  Fellowshipping with other believers

_____  Serving others

_____  Giving financially

 

CONCLUSION:  Our only business is to love God, and delight ourselves in Him.  All kinds of disciplines, no matter how rugged, are quite useless if not motivated by love for God.

INTRODUCTION:  Imagine for a moment that you have saved your entire life for retirement, and after all that work, it I going to be a very tight living.  At the same time, a co-worker of yours who never saved anything at all, wins the lottery, and will be set for the rest of their life.

 

·        How do you feel toward your coworker?  How do you feel about your own circumstances?

·        How do you think you should feel?

 

Central Idea:  God does not owe us anything.  All we have comes graciously from His hand, therefore we should be content and grateful for the lot in life He has given us.  In Christ, we are blessed with all spiritual riches, and in Christ all of God’s promises are fulfilled.

 

I                Examining Grace

 

            A         Entitlement versus Grace

 

Our Western culture has become a society of entitlement.  Retirees feel entitled to certain benefits from the government.  Middle-age people feel entitled to certain health and retirement benefits.  Younger people feel entitled to enjoy the same standard of living that their parents had to work a lifetime for.   Children feel entitled to have whatever they want whenever they want it.  Due to this pervasive sense of entitlement, we are all prone to demand our “RIGHTS.”

 

1          What are we entitled to?

 

John 3:36    He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

 

Romans 1:18    For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

 

Ephes. 5:6    Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

 

Col. 3:6    For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:

 

• What is it that we are entitled to?  Are you eager to claim your entitlement and demand your rights?

 

-           Job 41:11 Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.

 

-           Romans 11:33-36 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! [34] For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? [35] Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?  For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

 

   

                        2          What does Grace do?   

 

Ephes. 2:8-9    For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: [9] Not of works, lest any man should boast.

 

James 1:16-18   Do not err, my beloved brethren. [17] Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. [18] Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

                       

Romans 8:32    He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

 

Psalm 84:11-12  For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. [12] O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.

 

   

We are ready to accept and acknowledge all of this truth with regard to eternal life, but what about in this life?  We tend to live with the mind set that “God owes us something.”  It is easy for us to think thoughts like, “After all I’ve done for you,” or “After all I have given up for you.”  Is our life a glorified “bartering arrangement?”  Are we living lives that are a great “trade-off” with God?”  If so, that makes some scary assumptions:

 

·        God doesn’t want the best for me.

·        I know what I need more than God does.

·        I can avoid God’s will by persuasion.

·        I can get from God that which He otherwise would not give me.

·        I can keep God from giving to me what really is best for me.

 

“Blessings at times come to us through our labors and at times without our labors, but never because of our labors; for God always gives them because of His undeserved mercy.”

 

B         Grace and Contentment

 

1 Tim. 6:6    But godliness with contentment is great gain.   

Our greatest benefit is in our becoming focused on increasing in Godliness and being content with that.  We should never be satisfied with merely status quo, but we must accept that a sovereign God knows what is best for us, and in light of that, there are certain things that are never going to change.

 

• 2 Cor. 12:9-10   And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. [10] Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

 

The question is not whether or not I should pray about things, the question is “how do I feel when they don’t change?  Am I willing to accept what God has given or not yet given according to His timetable?  Am I willing to live by Grace?

 

• Cor. 1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

 

What did Paul mean when he said that all God’s promises are “yes” in Christ?

 

-          Christ personally fulfilled all of the Old Testament promises about the coming Messiah!

 

-          Christ is the meritorious basis upon which all of God’s other promises are fulfilled!

 

“It is only in Christ that God the Father is graciously inclined toward us.  His promises are the testimonies of His Fatherly goodwill towards us.”

 

What are your greatest needs in life, both spiritually and temporally?  On what basis are you approaching God to have those needs met?  Is it your spiritual disciplines, your obedience, or your sacrifice; or the infinite and perfect merit of Jesus Christ.  The former all have their place in the economy of Grace, but they are never to be our reliance for God’s supply, else we have thus abandoned grace and rushed to works.  In order to live in the freedom and blessing of grace, we must first be willing to leave the self-dependance of  our own works and lay down our rights!!

II       Exploring Grace

 

“Grace is not sought nor bought nor wrought.  It is a free gift of Almighty God to needy mankind.”

 

            A         Matthew 20:1-16

 

1        Assuming the Landowner represents God, what do we learn about His character in this story?   

 

 

2        What can we learn about human nature and how people respond to others good fortune?

 

 

3        With which worker do you identify?

 

4        Why is that people tend to think of the landowner as unfair instead of generous?

 

5        What does this story teach us about what God’s grace means?

 

B         Luke 7:1-10

 

1        In verses 4-5 what was the basis for the Jewish elders appeal to Jesus to heal the centurion’s servant?

 

2        What was the centurions perspective of what he deserved (6-7)?

 

3        When you approach God, which approach do you take? Explain:

 

4        What should our attitude be about the things we do for the Lord (10)?

 

CONCLUSION:  See the two groups of laborers as they make their way home.  AS to amount of money in their pocket, they are equal; but as to the amount of contentment in their spirits there is a great difference.  The last go home each with a penny in his pocket, and astonished gratitude in his heart, their reward accordingly is a penny, and more.   The first, on the contrary, go home each with a penny in his pocket, and a corroding discontent in his soul; their reward accordingly is less than a penny!

 

Do we have the faith to let go of self-dependence so that we can receive the riches of a life lived by Grace, trusting God, the giver of all good gifts based upon the merits of Christ alone,  to do what He has promised to do?

LESSON TWO

 

INTRODUCTION:  A study of the grace of God is a study in contrast, a contrast between the desperate plight of mankind and the abundant and gracious remedy God has provided for us through Christ Jesus.

 

Central Idea:  In His infinite grace, God does not treat us as we deserve, but rather offers us forgiveness through faith in Christ.  Christ removes our guilt and puts in its place His righteousness.  The blessings we receive come to us through faith in Jesus Christ, not because of anything we have done!

 

I                Examining Grace

 

Imagine that the next time you pray, you have to come into God’s presence based on your own merit.  What would you be able to say that you accomplished?  How does coming into God’s presence based on your own merits make you feel?

 

                 A         The Measure of God’s Grace.       (Eph 2:1-13)

 

By God’s grace, we are declared righteous before Him.

 

                                    1          Our plight

 

We are all guilty before God – Condemned, vile, and helpless.  God could, with total justice, have pronounced us all guilty, and condemned us to eternal damnation.  He owed us nothing; we owed Him everything.

 

                                    2          God’s provision

 

If you have trusted Christ as Savior, then all the expressions of God’s forgiveness given to us throughout scripture are true for you:

 

                         Ps 103:12                      - Removed our sin as far as the East from the West.

                      Is 38:17                         - He put them behind His back

                      Micah 7:19                   - He hurled them into the depths of the sea.

                      Is 43:25                         - He blotted them out of His record book.

                      Col 1:21-22                   - He made us free from any accusation.

EPHESIANS 2: 1-13

Our spiritual condition before Grace	What God has provided by Grace
Dead	Made alive (1, 5)
Bondage	Made free through mercy (4)
Object of wrath	Mercy (4)
Without Christ	In Christ (14)
Aliens and strangers	Made Nigh (13)
Hopeless	Peace (14)
Without God in the world	Access unto the Father (18)

                

                   3          Grace’s plan  (v 7-10)

 

                                    a          Display His kindness                         -           Sanctification

                                    b          Delineate His Greatness                   -           Salvation

                                    c          Demonstrate His graciousness         -           Service

 

B.               The Misconceptions of God’s Grace.

Are you willing to believe this wonderful truth?  Are you willing to lie by it today and throughout your life?  You see, God saves us by grace and deals with us in this life by that same grace!  Why, then, do we seem to live in spiritual poverty and not experience John 10:10.

 

1                    Our misperception of God.

 

-        Scrouge Syndrome.  He has it all, demands every ounce of work, and then pays poorly!

 

2                    Our misconception of our own goodness.

 

-                Sinatra Syndrome.  “I did it my way!”  Now that I am saved, I have to pay my own way, and earn God’s daily blessing. 

 

II                Exploring Grace

 

          A.       What is Justification.  Romans 3:23-26  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; [24] Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: [25] Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; [26] To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

 

                   1          God removes our guilt and places it on Christ

                        2          God takes Christ’s righteousness and gives it to us

 

What practical difference should that make in the way that we approach God?

 

Why do we not live in light of forgiveness?

 

            -faulty emotion           -           We feel like we must suffer or pay!

            -fragile volition           -           If I keep my guilt then I don’t have to change!

            -failing cognition         -           We don’t know God well enough!

-fragmented relation -            We don’t commune with God in regular conversation.

 

            B         What is ATONEMENT?

 

1        The Problem         John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

 

2        The Provision       1 John 4:10  Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 

1 John 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

 

3        The Past   Romans 3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

 

4        The Present          Hebrews 2:17  Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

 

CONCLUSION:        Perhaps the most difficult task for us to perform is to rely on God’s grace and God’s grace alone for our salvation.  It is difficult for our pride to rest on grace.  Grace is for other people – for beggars.  We don’t want to live by a heavenly welfare system.  We want to earn our own way and atone for our own sins.  We like to think that we will go to heaven because we deserve to be there!  -           R.C. Sproul

 

This is true of salvation past, and is even more true of salvation present!!   

It has been my privilege to teach on the subject of Grace at our Church throughout the Summer.  I taught this material as a class in our Grace Baptist Bible Institute on Wednesday nights, and was encouraged to teach it to the entire Church.  The response to the truth of God’s Grace in our lives has been incredible.  I taught this same material to a group of Pastors and laymen in Zambia Africa at a national leadership conference.  Again, the response to the truth was fantastic.  I have decided to take those lessons and post them here over the next weeks so that they are available for people to study.  These lessons were written with the book “Transforming Grace,” by Jerry Bridges as a source text.  Some of the material contains quotes from the book.  Although much of the material is original, and each lesson combines several chapters from Bridges book, the thought process behind the entire study is from Bridges, so I take no credit, and gladly give it to the author of the text.

LESSON ONE

 

INTRODUCTION:  GRACE.  “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound.”  But why do so few Christians experience the joy of knowing God and His infinite Grace?  Since it is by God’s grace that we are saved, and by His grace that we grow, what is our part in the process?

 

Central Idea:  God’s grace alone saves us, helps us grow, meets our daily needs, and guarantees our future in heaven.  These blessings are never given to us based on our performance.

 

I                Examination of Grace

 

                 A         The Believer’s best kept secret – Jesus Paid it all!

 

                            -        Romans 5:1-2 

 

                            -        Hebrews 10:22 

 

 

I say that this is the believers best kept secret because we tend live as though it

isn’t true.  We live with the realization that Jesus Christ had to completely pay

our sin debt and that there was nothing that we could do to redeem ourselves. 

We understand that we cannot add anythig meritorious to the work of Christ on

our behalf in salvation.  However, when it comes to living the Christian life, we

tend to approach God with the mindset that we need to gain His favor or appease

His disfavor.  In reality, Jesus paid it all for our sanctification as well as our

salvation.  Through His death we are reconciled to God.  There is nothing that

we can do in life to make God love us more or be more pleased with us.  He is

perfectly pleased with the sacrifice of His Son on our behalf.  Due to that

sacrifice, He has declared us to be sons and no longer aliens.  We no longer

relate to Him as His enemy, but we are His children and the object of His love. 

 

                 B         The Believer’s only source for success

 

-                                        The divine provision whereby God provides for His own for salvation, sanctification, service, suffering, succouring, and sacrificial giving, in such a way that they cannot, and therefore should not, take the credit.

 

-                                        To the extent that you are clinging to any vestiges of self-righteousness or are putting any confidence in your own spiritual attainments, to that degree you are not living by the grace of God in your life.

 

II               Exploring Grace

 

       A         What do these verses say about our Spiritual condition apart form Christ?

 

                   -          Isaiah 53:6    

                   -         Romans 3:10-20

 

       B         Using Philippians 3:1-14, fill in the following chart.

	LEGALIST	TRUSTING IN GRACE
Basis of a relationship with God.
Feelings toward God.
Motivation for good behavior
Reasons for feeling bad about failures.
Treatment of others who have fallen short.
Basis of strength during trials
Basis of strength to serve the Lord.

 

 

                 C         Many believers think that their justification is based on grace, the blessings in their Christian life are based on works, and their future glorification will be based on grace.  Where is the error in this thinking?

 

                            -          Galatians 3:3   

                            -          Philip. 1:6  

    

                 D         What do these verses teach about trying to mix grace and works as the basis for a relationship with God?

 

                            -          Romans 11:6

                                               -          Galatians 5:2-6    

 

                 E         What is the relationship between the grace of God and the righteousness of Christ?

 

                   -                           Romans 3:23-24

                   -                            Gal. 5:2-4

                   -                            Eph. 2:4-7

This is an email sent by Pastor Benson.  This is a great reminder of the sacrifice that missionaries make every day for ministry and their daily need for God’s grace.

The people are wonderful, and I have enjoyed getting to know them.  They really love the Lord.  The classes are going well.  It seems that the study on Grace is meeting a great need for the people here.  I am continuing to do well.  Many of the people at the conference have become sick today with intestinal trouble.  It appears that there was some bad food yesterday.  I have been being very careful, and praise the Lord, I am having no problems.  The Beamans are all doing great, Todd is actually one of the 50 who are sick today.  I have not received the two lost containers yet,  but hopefully they will come today.  Then I can see how excited everyone is with their gifts.  We have been without power for the last two days.  It is hot, but not humid, thankfully.  I fear that the Beamans will lose all of their refrigerated and frozen food.  The conference is going great, and I am looking forward to coming home soon!  Just Keep Praying!

Thank you so much for praying for Pastor while he has been ministering in Zambia.

Pastor Benson arrived safely after 60 hours of travel.  He got to see Helen Berman at her orphanage yesterday.  She is one of our long time missionaries here at Grace.  The conference that Pastor went to Zambia to speak for began yesterday.  He is teaching 3 times a day through Thursday.  He is also preaching Thursday night.  Please pray that God will give him strength and grace!  He is doing well, feeling great and rested!  Thanks so much for your prayers!

On occasion we are going to highlight parts of Pastor’s message that we can meditate on a bit more during the days and weeks that follow the delivery of that particular sermon.

Title of the message last Sunday was Thanksgiving Living.

1 Peter 2:19 states, For this is thankworthy (thanksgiving), if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.

What is thanksgiving living?

It is the response of one, who has contemplated what has been done fro them, recognizes the unworthiness of it and so acknowledges the benevolence of the one who gave it by that which would please them.

Are you living gratefully this thanksgiving season?

Unlabeled Poison

As I said earlier, much of the worst content in His Dark Materials is not found in the first book. If you watch the soon-to-be-released The Golden Compass after reading this, it is entirely possible that you may be left thinking, “I don’t see what all the fuss was about.” There is little doubt that much of the most virulent anti-Christian content has been eliminated from the movie, which only makes it more dangerous, for two reasons. One is that even though words like “the Church” and “God” will probably be gone, the underlying anti-Christian themes will still be present, a form of indoctrination rendered all the more subtle and seductive by its difficulty to recognize. The second danger is that after watching the movie, children will undoubtedly want to buy the books. Since their parents may not have noticed any problem with the movie, they will probably be allowed to do so.

There are many excellent reasons why children should not watch this movie. Philippians 4:8 commands us “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.“ Pullman’s world, by contrast, challenges our ultimate truth, the truth of God‘s goodness. Also, the story’s concept of morality is often the reverse of Biblical morality. If you take your child to the theater and something comes onto the screen that you do not want your child to watch, you will be faced with the difficult prospect of extracting your disappointed child from the theater without a scene, fighting your way past a row full of irritated people. This will take at least a couple of minutes, and by that time your child will have already seen what you did not want them to watch in the first place. When all is said and done, you will have done nothing for your child except create an appetite for something unwholesome, and you will most likely be treated to the following conversation as you walk to your car after the movie:

“Daddy, can we buy that book?”

“No, son, the book is bad. It turns people against God and Christians.”

“Then why did we just watch the movie?”

What will you say?

It’s Just Fantasy - Isn’t It

Some Christians would respond to all of this by saying, “This is just fantasy. It’s not real, so what’s the big deal?“ True, His Dark Materials is a fantasy trilogy; however, it is fantasy in which at least some of the characters are real. Pullman leaves no doubt who his villain is when he calls him “The Authority, God, the Creator, the Lord, Yahweh, El, Adonai, the King, the Father, the Almighty.” These are all the names for our God and Father. Some of you have children of your own. Let’s imagine for a moment that someday someone were to write a fantasy novel and decided to use you as one of the main characters. Imagine that throughout the book you were described as an evil, lying, manipulative, senile, foolish tyrant. Now imagine that the book is written by someone who has publicly declared his disdain for you. Would you want your children to read such a book? Would you want them to enjoy it?

There is a concept in reading fiction and fantasy literature that Samuel Taylor Coleridge called “the willing suspension of disbelief” and J.R.R. Tolkien called “secondary belief.” It means that while a person is reading this type of literature, they must willingly lay aside their natural disbelief at its fantastic elements and accept its premises as true. While this is a valid aesthetic theory, I would suggest that for the Christian there is no such thing as the willing suspension of loyalty to God. Even when reading a book or watching a movie, we must never lay aside our love for God and our indignation at attacks against His character. Those of us who are bought with the precious blood of Christ cannot simply put Him out of our minds and pretend that He does not exist for as long as we want to entertain ourselves. If we do, even for a short time, we are in danger of becoming like the fool who has said in his heart, “There is no God” (Psalm 53:1).

Beware of the Christians
The author, Philip Pullman, makes no bones about the fact that he intends the books to be a proselytizing influence for atheism and secular humanism. He has said that he “wanted to give a sort of historical answer to the, so to speak, propaganda on behalf of religion that you get in, for example, C.S. Lewis.” In a lecture given in March 2000, he publicly stated that “of all the dangers that threaten us at the beginning of the third millennium — the degradation of the environment, the increasingly undemocratic power of the great corporations, the continuing threats to peace in regions full of decaying nuclear weapons, and so on — one of the biggest dangers of all comes from fundamentalist religion.” He then went on to single out Christian conservatives in the United Sates as being one of the gravest dangers, along with the Taliban in Afghanistan.[1]

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^[1] The information in this paragraph is from Darkness Visible by Nicholas Tucker, 2003 by Wizard Books. It is an authorized and highly sympathetic examination of the author’s works.