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One of my students graduated recently from Palm Beach Atlantic University, and he is heading into seminary and then the pastorate. He took a full platter of classes from me, and we had excellent discussions in and outside the classroom. As a graduation gift, his girlfriend asked another professor and me to write him a letter, passing on “words of wisdom” to a rising seminarian. Having attended seminary myself (Trinity Seminary in Deerfield, Illinois for my M.Div. as well as M.A. in philosophy of religion) and having served on the pastoral staff of a church in upstate New York, I wanted to pass on to him what has, by God’s grace, stood me in good stead over the years.

I had just one page to get all of this onto PBA stationery, but, as Shakespeare said, “’Tis better to be brief than tedious.” So if you’re interested, you can look over my shoulder to see what I wrote.

Dear _______,

I was asked to pass along some “words of wisdom” in light of your graduation from PBA and new start in seminary. I’m certainly honored to do so, as it’s been a joy to have you as a student in my classes and to know you as a brother in Christ. You have stood out above your peers not only in your gifts, intellect, and eagerness to learn, but also—and most importantly—in your dedication to Christ. May you ever pursue Him with pure, simple devotion and cultivate your gifts for His glory.

As you go on for further pastoral training, continue to develop Christ-oriented, soul-shaping habits outside the classroom. Seminary students often neglect spiritual nourishment, falsely assuming that doing homework in biblical studies and theology will suffice. Meanwhile, their spirit shrivels or, at best, becomes stunted. So that the Word of Christ becomes deeply embedded within, make time for Scripture memorization, meditation, and prayer. I suggest reading through the Bible each year—in addition to specific book or topical study. Be a Scripture-saturated pastor and pilgrim! And set time aside for reading insightful, stimulating books to keep your horizons broadened and your mind sharp. Let these priorities become a pattern for life. Continue Reading »

Help me out here…

The Associated Press reports:

“A tiny Louisville church’s newest minister is a gifted music leader and popular among its three dozen members.

Mark Hourigan is also a sex offender. Almost a decade ago, long before he joined the flock at the City of Refuge Worship Center, he was convicted of sexually abusing an 11-year-old boy in central Kentucky. Hourigan served a five-year sentence and the 41-year-old was placed on Kentucky’s sex offender registry for the rest of his life.”

Read the whole story.

As one would expect, there is some controversy here among the members.

What do you think? I know we need to have the discussion here at P&P concerning “fallen” pastors with regard to adultery, but here is a discussion about restored sex offenders. Is there such a thing?

Does grace allow for such a restoration in society and the church?

I know that we have a convicted sex offender living about 1.5 miles away from our house. I have no idea of his spiritual condition, but, regardless, I have showed a picture to my kids and told them to run home and tell us if they ever see him in the neighborhood. If he was my pastor, I imagine my kids would not be allowed any interaction with him, most certainly in private.

I know that this is not an issue of salvation. I know that but for the grace of God, we may carry this shame. I am just not sure what grace looks like here. I am much more willing to allow a pastor in the seat of authority and influence who has committed adultery. This is just different.

Let me refine and rephrase the first question:

Is there ever a second chance for sex offenders in the Christian church and society? If so, what does that second chance look like? Would you ever go to a church that has a former sex offender as the pastor? (If you answer this, please tell us if you have kids—I think it makes a difference).

As many of you know, my family and I moved to Norman, Oklahoma, a year and a half ago primarily due to my mother’s illness. Previously, we lived in Frisco, Texas, where I was a pastor at Stonebriar Community Church for six years. We all loved the church. We loved the people, the commitment to the preaching of God’s word, and the reverence for certain traditions. Oh, and did I mention grace?! That is why I went there in the first place – grace! Rarely (and sadly) do you find a passionate commitment to the word of God and a attitude of grace. This situation gives forth to energy. Call it the power of God, the movement of the Holy Spirit, or whatever you will according to your tradition, but the church was alive. I wanted to be there every day. I miss it greatly.

Grace and truth. The two most important elements in my hierarchy of looking for a church.

Notice, to the surprise of many, I did not list “perfect theology” as a criteria. I did not even say theology that I am always comfortable with (since there is no perfect theology). At Stonebriar, I had it all. Just about everything Chuck taught, I agreed with. If not, I loved the man so much that I would bend myself to agree with him! (At least for that Sunday.) Of course, Chuck is a pastor more than a professional theologian. But he was committed to sound theology and he is a Calvinist! (a four pointer at least). Oh the depths and riches of reformed preaching! The power, the hope, the pride that can be taken when God’s sovereignty is preached in such a way.

However, today I do not go to a Calvinistic church. In fact, I am at an Arminian church. In fact (again), I am a regular teacher at a church that is both Arminian and Egalitarian. In fact (last time), last week I had to call the pastor that I am under to ask if it was okay for me to teach on “Women in the Church,” a topic in a current series I am on. This church is called Crossings Community Church and it is part of the Church of God, Anderson (not the charismatic Church of God you may be thinking of).

Let me briefly define a few terms before we move on (I will get in trouble if I don’t. If you already know these “big” words, move on. If not, learn them! – its not that hard):

Calvinist: One who believes in the doctrines of grace most traditionally defined by the TULIP acronym. The most controversial of the doctrines are Unconditional Election: the belief that God elects some individuals to salvation and not other based upon his sovereign will; Limited Atonement: the belief that Christ’s death only paid for the sins of the elect; Irresistible Grace: the belief that when God’s saving grace is presented to the elect, it is always effective (i.e. they will not ever reject it); and Perseverance of the Saints: the belief that those who are saved (the elect) will persevere and cannot “lose” their salvation.

Arminian: One who denies all of the Calvinistic doctrines of grace except the first, Total Depravity. The Arminian will opt for a belief in “Conditional” election: the belief that God’s predestination is based on the foreseen faith of the individual; “Resistible” grace: the belief that God’s saving grace can be rejected by anyone; “Unlimited” atonement: the belief that Christ’s death paid for the sins of every individual; and the belief that a truly saved person and fall from or “lose” their salvation.

Complementarianism: Belief in essential equality, but functional hierarchy in the sexes. This hierarchy is by God’s design and is not due to the fall. Man is to be the leader in the church and home. Women are not to be in positions of authority over man in the church or home, but are honored due to their role in the same way as men.

Egalitarianism: Belief in the essential and functional equality of the sexes. All role distinctions which imply leadership belonging to the man is due to the fall, not by God’s design. Therefore, women can serve in positions of authority over man in both the church and the home. Role is assigned by individual giftedness, not gender.

So . . . Why does this Calvinistic Complementarian go to an Arminian Egalitarian church? Continue Reading »

I would love to see it. You think that I get in trouble?

Title of Martin Luther’s Post: “Sin Boldly”

Maybe that would be the title of his blog. Maybe that would be a post. One thing is for certain—Luther was a blogger before blogging was cool.

As you know, in blogging, one must continually be informative and/or provocative, otherwise don’t expect to have many hits. Luther would have chosen the latter nine times out of ten.

The principle in being provocative is to say something that seems outrageous (or at least out of the box of your readers). After this, you have to replant the issue. It is a scary thing to do. You are always second guessing yourself. “Should I have said that?” “Will people understand?” “Will people read beyond the first paragraph?” Your hope is that people will stick around long enough to give your provocation a chance to settle itself into some informative way.

I could see the first paragraph of one of Luther’s blogs:

“Seek out the society of your boon companions, drink, play, talk bawdy, and amuse yourself. One must sometimes commit a sin out of hate and contempt for the Devil, so as not to give him the chance to make one scrupulous over mere nothings…” (Martin Luther, Werke, XX, p.58)

Or how about this for a blog title: “Sin boldly”

Would you stick around to hear the rest? Of course you would. This is why Luther was such a charismatic and effective leader.

Love him or hate him, you cannot put Luther in any box.

Luther was certianly aware of sin and grace. Sin more so in his early years, sin and grace later. The above comments made by Luther are meant to provocatively communicate something much deeper. “Sin boldly . . .” as the statement goes, but it continues, “. . . but believe more boldly.” Luther did not care for self-righteousness much. He was continually attempting to make those who were satisfied in their own works to recognize their own utter depravity. It was not so much that he wanted people to sin with a since of comfort, but to recognize their sin, not being coy with its presence in their own life. In order to communicate this, he would often encourage people in this with over-the-top statements such as the ones given here. When we sin and play personal cover-up, grace becomes invisible. Yes, it is there, but without shaking its hand each day, we cannot see grace. We have to live with such a recognition of our brokenness that we are continually kneeling the foot of the Cross.

How often do we play cover-up with our sin, acting as if it is not that bad? We become so used to it that it is not bold in our lives, or we just manipulate and deny its presence. To sin boldly is the only way for us to find grace.

What do you all think about WWLB? Do you think is over-the-top communication is effective or does it do more harm than good?

I live with the fear that someone will discover that I am not fit for ministry. Wait, I am getting ahead of myself . . .

January 2000. I have just been hired as an intern at Stonebriar Community Church. I still have a year left at Dallas Theological Seminary, but my excitement is far beyond anything I could have ever imagined six years ago when I began to think about ministry. My life had not been one of a minister in preparation by any means. It was a  fun, selfish, sinfun, and “I’ll deal with you later Lord” type life . You can read about it here. However, now things were different. The constant adrenaline that the idea of full-time service for the Lord was enough to keep my mind off my past failures. Watching Braveheart in 1995 seventeen times at the theater fueled my motivation. I thought to myself If I could just give my life for something bigger than myself like William Wallace did then contentment would be found in sacrifice. This was the road I was on. Excited, motivated, hopeful, and ready to change lives, I was now working for Chuck Swindoll, my hero.

The internship at Stonebriar Community Church for small groups turned into an internship for missions and outreach. This was good. I was going to set the example of one who was passionate for God. I was going to catch the eye of those around me. They were going to look at me and say to themselves Now that is what a young minister should be like. Maybe even Chuck Swindoll would call me into his office and commend my passions and service. Maybe Chuck would become my mentor.

I graduated in 2001 with a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary. That is a theological masters—yes masters. From their standpoint I was a jedi of theology. Would others take notice? They would have to. Not only this, but I won awards for service and teaching from the seminary and graduated at the top of my class. I was ordained into the ministry by the elders of Stonebriar Community Church in May of 2001. Chuck preached a sermon that was devoted just to me (well, there were three others who were ordained, but he was looking at me most of the time). Chuck and the elders laid their hands on me as I was on my knees whispering prayers, words of encouragement, and warnings in my ear.

Now, I was totally prepared and confirmed for ministry. I am on full-time pastoral staff at Stonebriar Community Church. My past was under my feet and I was turning my foot on it like a discarded cigarette. Continue Reading »

I’ll confess, I am not big on Christmas.  No, not because I don’t relish celebrating the birth of Christ but because of the superfluous trappings that have melded into obligations.  We generate lists to foster consumerism that encourages overspending and stress.  Decorations and meals and gifts have to fit within the holiday motif to satisfy the holiday requirements.   It’s all become part of fulfilling the Merry Christmas.  It all seems so trite.  If I had it my way, I probably would forgo the gift exchange obligation entirely.  But sadly, others for whom the trappings have become meaningful, would be short changed and that, I could not abide by.  Perhaps it is because as a student I don’t have the resources I used to and its become more strenuous to meet holiday demands.   Perhaps it is that I spend another year without a that meaningful somebody to share it with.  Nonetheless, I will be glad once December 25th is over.

Of course, for us Christians it is supposed to be a time to reflect on the birth of Jesus.  Unfortunately, I think that we put that specific celebration into a banal box of pageants and programs.  For if the reflection is not maintained year round, then the one time shot could just be reduced to a program that we include on our list of Christmas stuff to do.  But I do make every effort, particularly at this time to really reflect on what it is we are supposed to be celebrating. It indeed is quite magnificent but unfortunately gets lost in the jumbled ball of holiday happenings.

I think our tendency is to reflect on Christmas and the birth of Christ through 21st century, gentile eyes.  We who have trusted in Christ consider the salvation that we have.  We may consider our former way of life before Christ and how unknowledgeable we were regarding the reality of our spiritual deadness.  The birth we celebrate represents spiritual reconciliation so desparately needed for hope and eternal life.   Yes, God did need to save us and sent His son in the likeness of flesh to do just that.

But recently,  I have been thinking about this from another perspective.  Perhaps it is because I am reading through the Pentateuch and am considering the status of things pre-Christ both from a Jewish and Gentile perspective.  I imagine it must have tough for the Jews.  They were God’s chosen people and rightful claimers of his promises.  But the catch was they had to follow all these rules.  There was no internal enablement to assist them other than the motivation of maintaining covenant with God.

I don’t know who had it worse, the priests or the people.  The law was so specific.  Every jot and tittle had to be performed to perfection.  There were so many requirements.  But if God was to be satisfied so the people could have atonement for sins and maintain favor in consideration of covenant promises, these requirements were necessary.    I have to imagine that was quite a bit of pressure for the priests.

Everything had to be perfect for meaningful worship.  Priests could not have deformities.  The requirements of perfection also extended to the people.  There was no brokenness allowed.   Persons with skin diseases, women hemorrhaging, men with abnormal discharges were banished from the presence of community life unless specific offerings and a proclamation by the priests were provided so these broken people could have some chance of normalcy within the context of covenant promises.

It is no wonder that time and time again, rebellion ensued as the people followed after the enticements around them that eventually led to captivity.  These were people in need of hope.

To the Jew, the birth of Christ meant that the perfection of the Law was no longer dependent upon external performance but upon the Law written on the heart.  The shekinah glory that represented God’s presence, would now reside internally.  The only perfection that existed was Christ himself and the sacrifice that He became, fulfilling every aspect of the Law.  It is no wonder that He addressed healing through his acts to show the wholeness that is found only in Him.

But the ones who were the big losers were the Gentiles.  They were not God’s people.  They were not chosen by Him to receive His covenant promises.  The Gentiles were the ones that God commanded His people to stay away from and not intermingle lest the purity of God’s holiness as reflected on His people, be marred.  I can imagine some Gentiles craving to be included in God’s community because of His care, concern and provision for His people.  Yes the Gentiles, were people in need of hope.

It reminds me that from pre-Christ eyes, we Gentiles would have no business in His business.  But it also reminds me of what Paul says to the church at Ephesus:

Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by the so-called “Circumcision”, which is performed in the flesh by human hands – remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.  But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ…So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household.  (Ephesians 2:11-13, 19).

To the Gentile, Christ meant that the covenant promises could now be claimed based on faith and not by circumstances of birth.

So as Christmas draws near, I think of these 2 classes of hopeless people that without Christ, would remain struggling to keep laws or to achieve a denied status.  But then I think of this passage:

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. (Titus 2:12-14)

And I praise God for the greatest gift ever.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Here is an email question that I just received with the response to follow:

Good Afternoon:
I am writing to you under emotional pangs, as I wrestle with the Scriptures, and what I hear from certain others who are Christian.

The husband of a friend of mine committed suicide. My friend, I know well, and her love and defense of the Scriptures. But I only know of her husband’s belief by what she tell me, and his attendance to church. She said he prayed a lot and loved God, her and their children.

But he yielded to suicide. And from what I understand, this was a long term fight to avoid that. He subsequently said he was going for walk, and he was found in a park, after shooting himself.

Here is a man who “claimed” to love Jesus, but his actions to me, deny his having made Jesus Lord and Master over his life. Rather, he must have had Satan as master.

I used to believe in “free will” but after a long study of the Sovereignty of God, I changed my mind. That study took several years. So I can’t say this man had free will unless he remains outside of God’s Lordship, where he does what the flesh does…. denies the power, promises, and love that God has living within us.

The pastor at the services said what my friend said, he is in heaven, due to the Grace of God.

But how can a person be tempted to kill himself then actually follow through with it, if he has Life in him? And Hope. These reign over Death and Hell.

My Response

Thanks for the questions. These are very good questions, and necessary to struggle with.

You said: “But how can a person be tempted to kill himself then actually follow through with it, if he has Life in him?”

How could David have killed Uriah? How could Peter have denied Christ. How could John have fallen down and worshiped an angel? How could Paul struggle with sin the way he does in Roman 7? Why would Paul exhort Christians to “walk in the spirit and therefore not carry out the deeds of the flesh” if it was a foregone conclusion that Christians cannot walk in the flesh? How could the Galatians (whom Paul considers “brethren”) have turned back toward the law after knowing Christ? How could the Corinthians live as spiritual babes, living in strife, jealously, and envy? Continue Reading »

I have someone who is very close to me who will not be broken. I don’t really know how I desire him to be broken, but conversations with him are always very frustrating. Maybe I want to crack his head open and see what is inside, to gaze where only God can see . . . I don’t know. What I want to know is Does he really know Christ? My heart says “I hope” but my mind says “It can’t be.”

If you were to look at the life of this friend—his entire life—you would not suspect that he has ever broached the throne room of God. You would not expect that he has ever humbly bowed at the cross, understanding his own condition or the power of its shadow. I have never seen him read his Bible and I have never heard him honor Christ with his words. His life is one of constant pursuit of what the world has to offer and it completely controls his emotional state. Comforting him with spiritual talk is useless as you will get the gaze of ridicule and quickly share in the humility of having your conversation cut short by awkward silence.

Yet, when push comes to shove, this guy will give you his testimony. Every once in a while he will tell you why you don’t need to be worried about his spiritual condition. He will confidently tell you of the time when he was twelve years old and walked the aisle at Church to accept the Gospel. Once his tale is complete, he has exhausted his ability to have a spiritual conversation and the awkward silence ensues.

Is this guy saved? Can it be that he truly walked the aisle so long ago and has not flexed a spiritual muscle since? Why is he so secure in his salvation?

The only comfort I ever received concerning his spirituality was a list of verses on a small piece of paper hanging in his office. The heading of the paper read “The Security of the Believer.” On it were all references to those passages that teach “once-saved-always-saved.” This unqualified doctrine was something that he was taught immediately after his saving experience. This is what he banked on.

I have changed quite a bit over the years with regards to this doctrine. Don’t start squirming fellow Calvinists, there are not many things I believe in stronger than the security of the believer. But there are some who do need to squirm.

I am going to tell the “Parable of the Race.” You may have heard it before, but I am going to modify it quite a bit for our purpose.

“In a town of boredom called Mundane, there was a great announcement. It was the announcement of a race. A great race that all could enter. A race that would rescue them from boredom. Most people did not believe that such an event would be held in Mundane so they scoffed. Others immediately prepared with great enthusiasm and joy.

Both the scoffers and the enthusiasts arrived at the appointed place on the day of the race. The scoffers sat and watched while the others prepared to run by stretching and making sure their shoes were tied. They lined up looking ahead with the intensity, fear, and excitement that accompanied such an event.

The gun sounded and off they went. Yet something very curious and unexplainable happened. They all stopped running after they had passed the starting line. Not only this, but they acted very peculiar. One person fell on his knees crying, thanking God that he crossed the starting line. Others gave each other high fives and hugs shouting, “Hooray, we are now race runners, we are now race runners.” Some shook hands and congratulated each other. One group relaxed and complemented one another on how well they crossed the starting line. Five or six others all gathered together and formed a prayer circle. They prayed that others would cross the starting line as they had.

Many others wanted to experience this joy so they decided to start the race as well. They were immediately stopped by the well-wishers who had started before them. They decided to stay as well. After a few days, there were people handing out pamphlets along with a certificate to all those who crossed the starting line. The pamphlet told them that once they had started the race they were guaranteed to finish. The certificate was to recognize their achievement in finishing the race even before they finished.

After a month or so, there were so many who had crossed the starting line that they decided to build a town right there. They called this town “Starting Line.”

The spectators were confused. “I thought a race had to be finished,” they said to one another. They interviewed the people of Starting Line. “Why did you start the race and not continue?” they would ask. This made the people of Starting Line very uncomfortable. They would immediately show their certificate saying that they were guaranteed to finish. When people would encourage them to run the rest of the race, they would be ridiculed for not trusting God. They were called legalists and were accused of trusting too much in their own ability to finish the race.

Finally, many in the crowd became fed up with those in Starting Line and began to run the race without them.”

This parable illustrates a problem that we have in the church today. There are many people who are very comfortable in their profession of faith they made so long ago. So comfortable are these people that they never make any further moves in their walk with God. Like my friend, they rely upon the “once-saved-always-saved” doctrine that they were taught immediately upon conversion.

I don’t have a problem with teaching once-saved-aways-saved, but I would qualify it a great deal. Let me be plain and clear. The doctrine of God’s grace is radical. It is absolutely radical. It is unbelievably radical. God gives us an unspeakable gift free of charge. We don’t owe God anything for it. Neither is it on lay-away. In fact, it would be very offensive to God for us to even try to pay for it. It is priceless. Yet this gift, from a human point of view, is received by faith. Faith is the evidence of our salvation. It is the instrumental cause of our salvation. Faith is the evidence that we have entered into the race. But what we fail to emphasize is often more destructive to the Christian faith than not telling the Gospel at all. We fail to tell people that there is a false kind of faith. There is a faith that crosses the starting line, but never completes the race. Their is a faith that does not save.

Paul encourages the Corinthians:

“Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you– unless indeed you fail the test?” (2 Cor. 13:5)

The author of Hebrews says:

“Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.” (Heb. 4:1)

In Revelation, it is only those who overcome who are promised eternal life:

“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” (Rev. 2:7; emphasis mine)

James speaks about a faith that does not save:

“What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?” (Jam. 2:14)

Remember in the parable of the soils in Matthew 13, there are three types of seeds that sprout (start the race), but only one truly takes root (finishes the race).

I believe that once a person is truly saved, he or she will never lose that salvation. John 10:28 is all I need for this. Yet I think we need to warn people that not all faith is true faith.

If you have crossed the starting line, great! Bravo, hooray, and congrats. But, from a human point of view, this is no guarantee that you will cross the finish line. The doctrine is not called “Once-Saved-Always-Saved,” but “Perseverance of the Saints.” Both need to be balanced. We all need to question whether or not our faith is the kind of faith that saves. We do a great disservice to the Gospel to make it a priority to immediately alleviate any anxiety or doubt of salvation in those who profess faith. We may be giving them a false sense of security that they will take to their grave. This may be what happens to my friend. I fear the worst. On the day of judgment they will say “Lord, Lord, didn’t I cross the starting line? Wasn’t I a race runner?” He will respond, “Depart from me. I never knew you.”

There is a healthy tension concerning our salvation that should follow us our entire Christian walk.