What do you say?

I recently found this brief clip from a well known TV series on a friends blog. It's very poignant as it asks the ultimate question, "How can I know forgiveness?" In a situation like this, Christians must have an answer. The postmodern church, right now, is not even trying to meet men at the point of their most fundamental need, a right relationship with their Creator through the person and work of Jesus Christ. So, when men ask this question of us, how shall we answer?

Revival Hymn

Dear Brethren in Christ: A great many in the body of Christ today are coming, albeit slowly, to the realization that there is something wrong amongst those of us who have been for many decades called "evangelicals". The problem is - the clear preaching of the Word is lacking in churches quite literally around the globe. What we need has been well stated in its own way in this video:

"Have you heard the one about ... ?"

Over the past few years as my wife and I have sought God’s direction back to full time pastoral ministry I have visited quite literally thousands of church web pages of just about every stripe there is in our present day. Of course too I have seen church postings for pastors and church staff by the same literal thousands so that as I sit here today wondering what on earth is going on in the church of the twenty first century I often think to myself that I have seen everything there is to see in this regard. That is until just the other day when I opened up a well known web page devoted to helping pastors and churches get together for mutual ministry, and there listed under openings for “Senior Pastor”, I came across the following wording, and this is a direct quote:

“pastor-comedian
Senior Pastor
The Comedy Hour
23165 north western
Edmond, OK”

The posting then went into brief detail about the newly forming church; what they have and what they are looking for, in their words: “We have many ideas God has put on our hearts, would like to hear about yours and see if we feel like a match to grow God’s Kingdom together.”

These words sound good and have been repeated in a great many such postings, but as I read them I kept coming back to the words at the top of the page, “pastor-comedian” and wondered if in fact there had been some kind of “typo” by whoever placed the posting on the net. So I read on and under the word Organization found this:

“Developing new age church. The idea is to use humor and comedy to bring people to Christ. With the right Pastor we plan on becoming a rapidly growing mega church soon.”

Perhaps the most revealing part of this posting, albeit the shortest, was under the "Job Requirements" section.  Ordinarily a church is looking for a certain amount of previous experience or a particular level of education.  Not so in this case.  These are precisely the words that this church inserted as to what they expected from their new pastor:

"Must be very funny!!"

Fascinating. Perhaps somewhere along the line we can hear on Sunday mornings an announcer (you know a deacon or an elder with a little moxie) introduce the pastor from the sidelines with the words, “And now, for your worship entertainment, education and elucidation, he- e – e - re’s Pastor Johnny ...!!”

Pastor Johnny would then run up to his plastic pulpit with the morning’s “Praise Team” singing and the band playing at full tilt something like “When the Saints Come Marching In!”. The opening monologue would be filled with great humor and of course to keep in line with the occasion (Sunday morning worship and all that), there would be a good share of St. Peter and the Pearly Gates jokes. Of course the introducing deacon would stand by just to provide a little straight man stuff. I would suppose, and of course I could be wrong, but somewhere along the line the Bible just might be opened or at least alluded to for the sake of keeping up with the church’s stated purpose of “...bring(ing) people to Christ”. Comedy is just there to “attract un-churched Harry” into the service and once they’ve got him there and all full of mirth and merriment then the gospel will be preached and Harry will get saved. Maybe.

Boy, I’ll bet if the Apostles and all those dowdy old church leaders down through the ages had gone at their evangelistic efforts with a little more of this style, their churches would have been even fuller than they were. Oh well you’ve got to move with the times and get people with whatever devices are available to you.

I wonder if they’ll expect their new pastor to smile broadly at the conclusion of the “service”, wave his hand and sing out, “Th ... tha...that’s all folks!” Nobody’s going to have this guy for Sunday lunch.   They'll be too busy laughing.

Book Review: Famine in the Land

In my on-going quest for good solid reading material as it relates to Christian ministry, I go to a number of the BLOGS that I have bookmarked just to see what is being recommended to pastors. A few months ago I came across a title that really intrigued me given the paucity of solid expositional preaching in the pulpit today. The book is entitled, “Famine in the Land” by Dr. Steven Lawson. I went to Amazon and read the three reviews that had been given and was much impressed; so much so in fact that I ordered the book. It arrived and I read it within a couple of days. At first I thought that I had ordered the wrong book, but no it was the correct one. I was somewhat disappointed in what I found, and when asked by Amazon to do a review, I rather agonized over it for a couple of days since I knew what I had to say would not be in keeping with the other reviewers. Still, I proceeded and what you will find below is my first ever review of a book of any kind. If someone else comes across this small volume, reads it and finds my review too harsh, please let me know.

Some time ago I preached a message based on the prophet Micaiah’s experience with King Jehoshaphat in I Kings 22 wherein this monarch, in attempting to bring the King of Israel into a military alliance against a common enemy, held a great banquet wherein the false prophets (all 400 of them) were summoned to give their “advice” in going to war. In one accord they all agreed that such a venture could not help but know success. The king of Israel however, insisted on having the prophecy of one more prophet, and so Micaiah was summoned though Jehoshaphat was against it knowing that this man would prophecy only the truth.

On a number of occasions over the past few years I have been placed in Micaiah’s position though never to bring forth truth against error, but simply as one that takes a different point of view. I do that not for controversy’s sake, but because I sense that something in the very able opinion of others is perhaps lacking.

As a pastor seeking our Sovereign Lord’s direction back into full time pastoral ministry, I am ever on the outlook for books that will bring me encouragement in the essential matter of expository preaching. This is a discipline that is sorely lacking in the pulpit of our present day. Hence when I came across our brother Lawson’s book and read the reviews here on Amazon, I very much looked forward to having it as a valuable contribution to my modest library. I received the book within a few days of ordering it.

My first thought, given that it was a hard back, was that it was quite short. In fact it was even shorter than I had first imagined. It’s listed at 128 pages but when the blank pages are eliminated, and the mountainous footnotes are taken away, there are but 89 pages of script left. Further, the font size is unusually large for a book that measures barely six by eight inches.

Brother Challies (a fellow Canuck whom I respect very much) mentioned in his review that there are a great many quotes in the book. Indeed true, in fact, there are so many quotes that the author’s actual contribution is greatly minimized. Hardly a page goes by that there are one and sometimes more quotes of a great many authors. Of course what all these are saying is very true, but one is left from time to time wondering what the author of this book actually has to say for his original material is actually at a bare minimum.

The one area that did rather bother me, however, was his use of Jonah as an example of a compelling preacher of the Word. Like many preachers, I have preached through the book of Jonah on more than one occasion, and I hardly find him a heightened sample of, in our author’s words, a “courageous, compelling, confrontational, compassionate” preacher. In the first place he did everything in his power to avoid following the divine directive that he was given. That cost him. Then when he did make it to Ninevah, the message he delivered was as brief as he could make it, and somehow I’ve always gotten the feeling from the text that he delivered it as quickly as possible to get the whole thing behind him. I see very little courage in the man; his compelling message was that of Almighty God; his confrontation was as brief as possible; and as for compassionate, well I’m certain that chapter four, verse one tells it better than anything else, for when at the message the city repented of its evil and God turned from destroying them, we read: “…it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry”. This is compassion??

What Jonah best teaches is the absolutely sovereignty of God, not the effective preaching of a reluctant servant.

Now, please do not think that I am attempting to put our brother down for his attempt to bring forth a much needed book on a subject that we as preachers need to hear more about. I would say rather that I am just disappointed in having very little to read of what this dear brother is saying, for he, on a personal level really has very little to say.

PHILOSOPHY OF MINISTRY

Over many months of contacting churches quite literally around the world and receiving replies from a great many of them, I have at last succumbed to the need of putting together what for me is a “philosophy of ministry”, though it may not be regarded as such by those to whom I send it. Still it does set down a mode of approaching the whole matter of pastoral ministry as I believe that it is set out in the Word of God. Today’s church has such a wide variety of methodologies in “doing ministry”, most of which I not only disagree with, but many I find quite reprehensible in their approach to building up the body of Christ and seeking to extend the Kingdom of God. The following then is my latest “document” to churches that are looking to provide preachers for the “sacred desk”.


“Dear brethren, given the present day climate that is rather pervasive in the church of our present day I do find it behooves me as a pastor of the gospel of Jesus Christ to provide a church in which I would dearly love to candidate, a summary of what I believe with very strong conviction to be the course of ministry which needs to be followed. Now of course I realize that most men entering the ministry, and even many who have been pastors over many years would concur with what I am about to say; yet the problem has become that a great percentage of them will not, alas, follow through in their every day ministries preferring rather to move along the more contemporary lines that many churches are pursuing right now.

“When I was ordained by the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada [FEBC] I received a rather handsome certificate on that very special day which in addition to the factual data with respect to place of ordination, messengers in attendance and who did what, there were but three very important words across the top which is the plain admonition to young pastor Timothy from his mentor Paul, and is simply, “preach the word …”.

“That’s a great job description, and of course if you need further elucidation to this, Paul does another very nice job in his letter to the Ephesian church as he describes the outworking of certain vital spiritual gifts that our Sovereign God gives to the church. With respect to these gifts Paul explains:

‘to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.’ (emphasis added)

“Now I do not know whether you folk have noted it or not, but as you look out across North America, indeed, around the world in general, this vital rôle is not being carried out by the majority of men occupying evangelical pulpits. I have been a Christian for a good number of years; I have been a part of the church for my whole life, and over the course of at least the last ten to twelve years having preached in quite a number of churches in both Canada and the U.S., and been extremely involved in several, I can tell you without equivocation, this is not happening. What has taken over, and I say this with a great deal of sadness in my own heart for I have seen it firsthand, is the corporate mindset that has said, “If it works, we’ll do it!”. That’s pragmatism at its worst. If it’s fine out there in the corporate world wherein dollar signs are the bottom line, so be it. It is not, nor has it ever been God’s way of ministry for it in no way accords with His Word.

“The truth seems to have gotten by many of our brethren who are of the opinion that the church today needs our finite input in order to make it what we think it should be. What is being forgotten, perhaps because it is so infrequently preached, is the fact that the church is the body of Christ. It is His … and His alone! Remember what Jesus said to Peter on that day when asked, “…but who do you say that I am?” The answer came from Peter, “… you are the Christ, the Son of the living God”. Jesus was very pleased with this response and replied (I’m sure there was a smile on the Master’s face):

‘…Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’ (emphasis added)

“These words of Christ are overlooked in man’s quest to “get the job done”; and what is forgotten is that the body is His … not ours. You see the “rock” is this truth that Peter has just sounded out, and this is the rock upon which we are to build and nothing else.

“So then, what is my approach to ministry? Simple – preach the Word; teach the Word; disciple the Word; counsel the Word, and live the Word by His grace. That’s a pastor’s job description. He must know the Word, and then he must feed it in love to those sheep of his flock that have been entrusted to his care.

“In this regard this is one other matter that was first brought to my attention by some fellow FEBC pastors many years ago at a pastors conference at Mary Lake here in Muskoka, Ontario. And that has to do with a ministry of the body of Christ that is being little practiced in the church of just about any stripe. Once again, it is something that the Lord Jesus left for His disciples to see to, and of course by extension believers in the church through all succeeding generations. These are our Lord’s words, indeed His admonition:

‘…Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…’

“God’s people are to be discipled. Why? Because Jesus said so. I have had the very distinct privilege on a number of occasions to disciple young people, but the last time that I was afforded this wondrous opportunity was some years back in a large FEB church here in Sarnia. I began working with a young couple, married not too long, and while she had been a professing believer for some years, he was a new convert. When asked if they would like to “be discipled” they accepted with an alacrity that surprised me. So, over the next two and a half years I met with them both weekly for two to three hour sessions. It was a magnificent experience. It was like watching a blotter soak up a liquid as they both came to see the truths of the Word of God; and see it for what it was and is – the Living Word. About a year after we started they both sensed God’s direction in ways that none of us ever anticipated – to the mission field. Today, they serve the Lord with a joy that is hard to describe as they work together with their growing family with New Tribes Mission in Venezuela.

“As I have looked out on the church today; as I have studied all of the various aberrations that have and are taking place (e.g. church growth movement; seeker sensitive services; emerging church et al), it’s hard to see what is being accomplished. To be sure in many areas the churches are growing at tremendous rates (physically!); but spiritually, and I know this to be fact, spiritually most of the folk involved are still extremely immature and again sadly, many, many are not saved at all. We must come to the hard, cold realization that God has promised to bless but one thing: the true, unvarnished ministry of His Word. Nothing else. Programs can be useful; music has its place as long as it is bringing glory to our Heavenly Father, but they are not there to see men saved. They are simply adjuncts, and nothing more and if people are coming into the fold simply because their “felt needs” are being addressed; or they like the sound of your worship team, then they are coming for all the wrong reasons. If sound doctrine is not being preached; if the “s” word [i.e. sin] is no where to be found, then it is not a church, it is place of worldly goings on, and nothing more. We as evangelicals must get back to the kind of ministry that Paul laid out for the churches in his care – twice to the Corinthians, he made these statements:

‘For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified..’

‘..but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,..’

“There’s the job of the church, we must preach Christ, and Him crucified. Men will not be saved in any other way, and if we spend our time getting involved with anything else then we are living in disobedience to that which our Lord … our Master… our prophet … our Priest…, indeed, our King has set for us to be about. It’s just as simple as that.

“I feel certain that you dear folk have a very fine “job description” for the man that you are looking to call, and I know equally well that you will hear from many men who are well gifted to fill the rôle that you [D.V.] are trying to fill. To be sure I have held a large number of leadership rôles in my life time and have been fairly successful in what I have, by God’s grace, put my hand to. But this one thing I do know and that is that God has “gifted” Nancy and I with a myriad of life experiences within the context of our lives in Christ and has taught us some things that it takes a whole life time to learn. This is a very large part of why we are seeking to pastor once again, that we might be useful instruments in our Savior’s hand to help and enrich the lives of others of His family.

“You undoubtedly are desirous of seeing your next pastor “grow your church”, and that is good. But grow it, how? I suppose we just need to go back to the Acts text above, and of course the Lord’s words to Peter. The fact of the matter is, and I sincerely trust that I have been able to lay this out for you from a strictly Scriptural point of view, if … and only if the Word, by your pastor and other faithful men, is well preached; if it is given the expositional preaching/teaching that is demanded of it, then God will in Christ and through the love of His people, build the church as He sees fit so to do. When we are faithful to the Word that He has given, His blessings are greater than ever we can imagine. We might well put up all manner of beautiful edifices, but if the Word is neglected or takes second place to “all that we’re doing”, then we had better be aware – they will be edifices built on sand. And we know what happened to those when the rains came.

“Finally, brethren, as I have noted in the cover letter that you will have already read, my wife and I are very much looking forward to ministering once again (though we are yet given many opportunities apart from the pastorate), in the place of His appointment.”

We do look forward to hearing from you.

In Christ, by His Grace Alone,
J.D.

AND A VERY “MERRY TIPTON” TO YOU!

Some years back there was a dramatic television series that lasted just a few years, but during its time it gained a good sized following. It was called very simply, “The Millionaire” and its premise was just as simple as its title, as a multimillionaire by the name of John Beresford Tipton would call upon his trusty secretary Michael Anthony to hand deliver a cashiers cheque for one million dollars. Today that is still a fair bit of money, but in the late fifties that was huge.

The recipients were apparently just chosen at random and when the cheques were handed over there was a contract involved which had to be signed that stated that they would not tell anyone (except their spouse) that they had received the gift, nor would they attempt to discover who had made the gift. If they breached these rules, the balance would be forfeit.

It was always extremely interesting to see how people in various walks of life; at differing levels of society would respond to receiving such a gift and what they ultimately did with it. It was great entertainment.

Some time back I came across a Christmas presentation that took this basic story line and applied it rather well to what we have come to recognize as the “Christmas Story”. Perhaps you will recognize the elements of the Biblical account … and then again, perhaps not. I have come to view this as a Modern Parable of Christmas.

“Once, very long ago there lived in a faraway land a very kindly gentleman by the name of John Beresford Tipton. He was a very wealthy man with more money than anyone could imagine. And along with his wealth he had developed a rather interesting practice of giving away to certain individuals a tax free gift of one million dollars. To help him in this endeavor he had employed a refined gentleman by the name of Michael Anthony who not only presented the cheque but served to keep Mr. Beresford Tipton’s identity secret.

In the early years there were but a few recipients of the gift, but as the years passed the numbers grew into the thousands even past Mr. Beresford Tipton’s death since his estate called for the rather strange practice to continue.

Needless to say the lives of those receiving the money were drastically changed. And so as the years, even generations passed by the individuals who had been the recipients of this great gift increased in number until after many centuries it was almost impossible to tell for sure just how many there were. But those receiving these gifts came to know of the others that had also been blessed by this money, and ultimately too they learned the identity of their benefactor. So they decided to “celebrate” on an annual basis and managed to find out, not only his name, but Mr. Beresford Tipton’s birth date. After much discussion it was decided that some time in mid winter they would have a party, and call it “Tipton Day”.

Every one became very enthused about it as they stopped to consider this dear man’s generosity. Some even made up songs to make the day even more jovial. Over the years they added a great many things to the celebration in the name of their great benefactor like sending “Tipton Cards”, and decorating homes and offices with beautiful lights. Oh yes, it was wonderful and everyone had a great time.

Eventually “Tipton Day” became a custom around the world and in remembering the wonderful gift that they had received; they decided to give nice gifts to others in celebration.

But as the celebration of “Tipton Day” became so wide spread, a lot of folks who had received nothing from this man’s hand decided that they would do some party crashing. After all why should only they who had received the gift have all the fun. Yet in the midst of that great and growing throng of “Tiptonites” the party crashers were hardly noticed at all. Of course for the most part too, the “crashers” had no idea what all the celebration was about. For them it was just a matter of having a good time. All they could figure out was that someone with this strange name who was very wealthy had decided to make a whole lot of other people wealthy. Well, that seemed very nice so they picked up a glass of champagne … and joined the celebration.

In time, “Tipton Day” became a national holiday in a great many countries and of course ever mindful of new ways of making the whole thing better, many merchants decided to make, what they called, “Tifton” gifts available. That sounded like a fine idea. And most agreed that giving gifts was right in the “spirit of Tipton”.

So manufacturers and merchants got right to work, and they ran “Tipton Specials”, and everyone crowded around to buy their “Tipton Gifts”. And so it grew and expanded and everyone got involved and a great time was had by all.

One day two gentleman from Mr. Tipton’s homeland came to North America landing right here in Canada, and in fact decided to stay for a visit in the big city of Toronto. Now these men had received Mr. Tipton’s gift of one million dollars and decided that they would just like to meet someone just like themselves. The reason for this of course was the fact that Mr. Tipton had just before his death, decided that everyone receiving his gift, would be adopted into his family. So, they were just looking for other “Tipton’s”; people like themselves with the same family name. They were interested in getting together with just a few others to celebrate the memory of their joint benefactor.

So arriving in the heart of the city they walked down Yonge St. and looked into store windows, but as they did so they began to see things that really shocked them. They began to see signs like, “Only Three Shopping Days Left to Tipton”, and others that said things like, “Tipton Specials – Half Off”. Well as you can imagine these men quickly concluded that the owners of these stores must be Tipton’s, and so the next store that they saw a Tifton sign they went in. They looked around and concluded that this owner had done very well with his gift. And as they continued to look they heard someone call out, “And have a very Merry Tipton”. Then a voice from the opposite direction called back, “And you have a very Merry Tipton, too!”

Before long they heard voices all over saying “Merry Tipton”, and a happy new year as well.

This was very strange, as they looked at each other their only thought was, “What on earth is happening here?”

Mr. Tipton had been very generous here in Canada, but even this was far and beyond what they had expected to find.

Later that evening as they continued looking, they found themselves before a large home very beautifully decorated with what someone had referred to as Tipton decorations. Many people were going inside, and on one occasion when the home owner came to the door and noticed the men standing admiring his home, he invited them to come in and join the celebration. It was getting quite cold outside so they were happy to accept. To their amazement when they finally entered they saw “Tipton Cards” all around the living room. Most of these had pictures of pine trees, and snow and animals on them and the wording said things like “Seasons Greetings” and “Have a Very Merry Tipton” and so on.

But the really big item was a magnificently decorated tree right in the middle of the room that everyone admired and referred to as a “Tipton Tree”. The two men were rather thoughtful over this since these kinds of trees were not known in Mr. Tipton’s homeland. In fact he had never particularly liked trees. Oh, well.

These Canadians seemed like a strange lot, but they did seem to know how to have a good time that is if you consider that most of them were quite drunk!

At last the two visitors found a place in a quiet corner to consider what they had seen during the course of the day. One of the men mentioned the fact that on many of the streets they had walked that day, most of the folk calling our “Merry Tipton” didn’t look at all like millionaires. In fact anything but. His friend agreed, “I cannot for the life of me figure out what is going on here”.

So it was decided that they would ask someone about what they were seeing. They approached a man on the far side of the room and asked very simply: “Tell us, brother, when did you become a millionaire?”

The man just about gagged on his drink and shooting them a very cold stare, replied, “What are you talking about? A millionaire? You’ve got to be kidding!”
Thinking he hadn’t worded it just right, the man re-phrased his question: “Well, when did you actually receive your million from Mr. Tipton?”

The man fairly exploded, “What are you talking about? A million dollars? Ha! I had to borrow over three hundred dollars this year just to buy my Tipton gifts!”

The visitor was somewhat taken aback by the man’s attitude, so as timidly as he could asked, “Then why are you celebrating ‘Tipton Day’??”

The man couldn’t believe his ears. “Why am I celebrating ‘Tipton Day’? What’s wrong with you guys?? EVERYBODY celebrates ‘Tipton Day’; my mother and father celebrate it, in fact they’ve always celebrated it. And for that matter so did my grandparents. I’ve always celebrated it!”

He went on, warming to the topic – “when I was a kid I used to hang up my ‘Tipton stocking’. What’s wrong with you foreigners anyway? I thought everyone knew about ‘Tipton Day’??!!”

The visitors backed off and just about bumped into a man with a half empty glass of liquor in his hand. With more than just a little caution they asked him very softly, “Sir … have you received a million dollars from Mr. Tipton?”

Despite his inebriated condition the man looked as though he were just about to enter cardiac arrest as he blurted out, “A million dollars? Are you crazy? Of course I haven’t!!”

The visitor’s curiosity could no longer be contained as he pursued the topic, “Then why are you celebrating ‘Tipton Day’? What’s this all about, we don’t understand?!”

The man tried to be polite though he eyed them like they were from another planet. Slowly he began, “Well, I think that it all started with this man, somebody from some foreign country I think … his name, well his name was ‘Tipton’ … lot’s of people don’t know for sure. In fact there are lots of folk that aren’t really sure that he ever lived. Anyway there’s lots of legends and myths about the whole thing. One thing everyone seems to be agreed on is that this Tipton used to give these great gifts all the time. You know, things like toys, and pajamas and ties … you know that sort of thing. So we just picked up this custom here in Canada and now we give gifts on this guy’s birthday – at least we think it’s his birthday, and we call it ‘Tipton Day’. Anyway, once you get into the spirit of the whole thing, you’ll get used to it. You’ll love it! Here … have a drink!”

The quieter of the visitors replied, “Yes, we can see just how much all of this means to you. That’s a lovely orange tie you have there.”

The two visitors were really very anxious to find out if anyone there was a recipient of Mr. Tipton’s wonderful gift, and so they decided to pose the question one more time. They located yet another guest, a man who seemed very reserved in appearance and had no glass in his hand. They asked very simply, “What does ‘Tipton Day’ mean?”

The man seemed as refined and as educated as he appeared, but took on a slightly pained look at the question. Still, he attempted to respond in a way that he hoped would be helpful.

“Well,” he said, “Mr. Tipton was a man who lived many years ago, and he was very wealthy. In fact, I think that we have his biography somewhere all nicely bound in leather though not many read it very much. A lot of us have this book in our homes though I’m not quite sure where ours is. Anyway, it tells how he made his fortune and how near the end of his life he began to give it away to certain individuals and then adopt them into his family.”

The man paused before going on with what he thought would be a great finish to his story. “Oh, yes the idea behind it all was that if we follow all of the principles that he set down, then we can ourselves ‘earn’ a million dollars ourselves. That’s how we get the million. At least I think that’s what it’s all about. Don’t quote me”.

The man says no more. The party’s getting more boisterous as the evening wears on. The visitors are just about to leave when just above the laughter and tinkling of glasses there’s heard a knock at the door. No one appears to hear it. There’s a very long pause when the door opens and there in the doorway stands a direct descendent of Michael Anthony. There’s a brief case in his hand and he has taken an envelope out with a million dollar cheque inside for “someone”.

Mr. Anthony speaks up and tries to make his voice heard above the party celebrations, “Excuse me … excuse me …”. His voice fades away.

No one is listening. So he speaks up once more, “Excuse me please … !” But the noise of the laughter and singing and glass tinkling and … it’s all so loud. No one hears.

His smile fades and he turns and leaves. No one has noticed as the party celebrating “Tipton” goes on just as hilariously as it was before he came in.

Now it’s just a parable. Perhaps, not to put too fine a point on it, it is something of a satire. Having been a part of the Christmas “scene” here in North America for many years I would say that there is a rather heavy dose of truth here that we as members of Christ’s body cannot over look.

We who are Christians have received a gift of that which is of infinitely greater worth than a million dollars. We’re the “Tiptons” in this parable and in a sense that is both good and bad. It’s good because that gift which we have from Almighty God is eternal life in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. But we have to stop at this juncture and wonder whether or not we as these Tiptons are not doing an especially bad job of conveying the reality of our “riches” to a world that knows absolutely nothing but “party crashing”.

Oh, to be sure they know that someone named “Jesus” came many years ago to bring “something” to this world that should result in, at the very least, PEACE! And so they, ostensibly, celebrate that coming by having a party on His birthday. But apart from the manger … or the shepherds … or the wise men … the world knows very little if anything but “celebrating”. That’s it!!

So they go out and they celebrate. They celebrate with music, and with wine, and with parties, and with trees and decorations … and with gifts. That’s it!!

So that’s all they do – just like the non-Tiptonites – they celebrate; but they know nothing about what it is that they are celebrating.

They celebrate that which “we” have in Christ. They have none of it.

We’re the “Tiptons” … we have the fabulous gift … the greatest of riches. The question becomes, and it’s a hard one to answer because it knocks on the door of each of our homes – “Are we making this great gift known to those outside the “Tipton Family”??

You see, unlike the Tipton of our parable, we have received with the gift a mandate from the giver Himself to “…go and make disciples of all nations…” Now, do we have a better time to do that then right now as we remember the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ?

But now, “Family of Tiptons” … we can’t stop at the manger … and we can’t pause in Bethlehem. And we can’t because beyond this wondrous time there came yet another time some thirty plus years later when the babe in the manger became the Savior on the Cross.

He did not come just to give this world another holiday at a particularly drab time of year. He came to give men by way of Calvary’s tree a gift of unsurpassing value, the gift of Himself. He came to give the gift of reconciliation with a Holy and Just God; He came to give the gift of peace to men in the midst of a world rampant with war; He came to give the gift of life for time … and for eternity.
Oh, in a couple of weeks the non-Tiptonites will be “o-o-o-ing” and “ah-ah-ahing” over fancy clothing and Nintendos and expensive toys, but in the midst of it all their empty hearts are crying out for something more. They need joy … and they need life… and they need peace in lives that are absolutely peace-less!

They have the party … and they have the celebrating. And that’s all they have.

And we have the nicely bound copies of the truth that they, supposedly, are celebrating. We do have the riches, but the question becomes – what are we doing with it?

At this “gifty” time of year is there a greater gift that we could share than a knowledge of Him who made this time of year the reality that it is?

"What Must I Do to be Saved?"

In our ongoing pursuit of a pastoral ministry, I often receive questionnaires from interested churches wanting to know of my stand/conviction et al on certain matters. Some of these are very ordinary type things, but one recently asked the following two questions:

1. How do you tell someone how they may be saved? And,
2. Please tell us your understanding of grace.

Since I feel that the two are inextricably linked, I sent back an answer to the church which in fact incorporated my stand on both matters. The following is what I e-mailed to the search committee.

“You will note, and I trust that this is acceptable to you as a search committee, that I have incorporated your second and third questions into one. I do this because grace is the integral factor in discussing the doctrine of soteriology. I am sure that you will glean a good understanding of my convictions with respect to divine grace.

First off, may I direct you back to the initial documents that I e-mailed to you with my profile and to the one in particular entitled: “Doctrinal Statement”. The tenth of these doctrines state the words, “Irresistible Grace”, beside which you will find this explanation:

“I believe that God the Son has sent the Holy Spirit to work alongside and through the preached Word. The Spirit of God regenerates elect sinners and draws them irresistibly to Christ granting them by His Sovereign Grace both faith and repentance which they then exercise in Christ as both Savior and Lord”.

I am glad you asked about this doctrine and the work of grace for it is certainly the key to understanding all that Christianity, the Christian faith and what it means to be a Christian is all about.

If you will bear with me briefly, we must go back to the very beginning and understand why there is a need for grace in the life of men. At that time when the world was still very new, men and women amounted to only two individuals and God having given His first dictum, viz,

“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
Well, of course we are more than familiar with what transpired not long afterward when man took of this fruit against God’s explicit command. Funny thing is, he did not die physically; but from that point on he was and is spiritually dead.

The Apostle Paul, millennia later clearly affirmed this particular death of all – ALL – who are outside of Christ. To the Ephesian believers he wrote:

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. “

And again to the Colossian believers he wrote:

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, “

And all he was saying here was that in that spiritual deadness they were, before Christ, totally incapable of doing anything of a spiritual nature. There was no life there in the spirit with which to operate. That is, note the words above underlined, “no life” until “God made alive”.

Perhaps we can consider this in terms of that well known story of Lazarus in John 11. Lazarus’s sisters had sent word to the Lord when their brother took sick. The disciples were very keen to get on to see if they could be of some
help. Jesus as we know refrained from going straight away and so Lazarus died. When the Lord with the disciples finally arrived, Martha made a very telling statement, to wit, “Lord, if you had been here our brother would not have died”.

Well the intervening events are all well known, even the culmination of it all as Jesus stood outside the tomb where Lazarus had been buried, now dead for three days, and this is what happened:

“When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." “

Now I realize that for a great many in the professing evangelical church of our present day this story has become almost “old hat”; so much so that the spiritual significance has been all but lost. To be sure all will look upon it as a tremendous miracle that our Lord performed, but very few today will see what it is that this act of God through Christ does symbolize. Can you imagine what all those standing around that tomb must have been thinking – “Why this man’s mad; does he really think that a man who has been dead for three days can not come back to life?”

I feel quite certain that if you or I were there our thoughts would have been similar. Yet, what happened next: Note:

“The man who had died came out…”

Well, we say of course because Jesus called him; and Jesus is God and thus He was able to give Lazarus life – indeed new life. That’s absolutely correct. It was the grace of God giving new life to a man who had been dead. And that is precisely what happens when God through the power of His Holy Spirit at the preaching of Christ does to those whom He has chosen from before the foundation of the world, for salvation. Note again:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. “

Man died in Eden; and it is never until God reaches into that dead soul by grace, His grace, and grants new life does a man live again in Christ. And, that brethren, is how salvation takes place. In terms of “telling” one what he or she does to be saved, there are a number of passages to which we can look. For example, when the Philippian jailer came rushing in to Paul and Silas’s jail cell crying, “What must I do to be saved?” Paul replied very simply: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…”. And to the Roman church Paul wrote this:

“if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

This very simply put is how one is saved. But the question must be asked, “Where does this faith come from? How does one ‘believe’? I know as you do that there are tens of thousands out there populating churches of every conceivable stripe stating, often with great emphasis, that “Yes, I believe”. They have been told from countless pulpits that if they will just come down the aisle, and sign the card, and breathe the sinner’s prayer then they will be eternally secure. Now, don’t get me wrong that can and does happen. A great many that I have known over the years including my own wife were saved in precisely this way. I do not disparage it. But one must come to the realization that all these activities – or works – are not the way to salvation. Those who come truly before the cross of Jesus Christ and repent of sin, and place faith in Christ for salvation have already been regenerated. Otherwise they would never come. Man in his natural state hates God; he hates Christ; he has no use whatever for the Bible or God’s plan and life of salvation. He needs a new nature, and that alone can, by grace, be given by God alone through the ministry of His Holy Spirit.

Notice the words of the Lord Jesus Christ in John 6:

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him . . . “

And again just a little later He re-affirms this truth having spoken to the crowds about the necessity of eating His flesh and drinking His blood and many turned back from following Him – note:

“And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."

It is no more possible for a spiritually dead man/woman to come to Christ on their own accord then it was for Lazarus to get up, all by himself, and walk out of that tomb. It took the very special and efficacious call of Jesus Christ to perform that miracle. Do you suppose if anyone else, even the disciples, had walked into that tomb and given Lazarus a little nudge and said, “Hey, Lazarus, get up … the family’s out here waiting for you!”, that Lazarus would have stirred. No. Never. It took the grace of God, working through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, to give life through His call. Dear friends, it can happen in no other way.

One more vital matter that is absolutely essential for us all to get a hold of and that is answering the age old question of balancing the sovereignty of God with the responsibility of man. Once again in John chapter six, Jesus told His hearers one explicitly important matter with respect regarding those who would come to Him for salvation, notice the beautiful balance that our Lord utilized:

“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. “

Jesus has spoken of the election of a body of people whom, as He states above: “All that the Father gives me will come to me…”; that’s God’s sovereignty, and then human responsibility appears magnificently in that second clause: “…and whoever comes to me I will never cast out”. There we have the truly “coming ones” and the eternal security of the Saints all rolled in to one. Beautiful!!

Perhaps you have heard of Dr. John MacArthur. Undoubtedly since his church, Grace Community, is just a couple of hours or so away from you in Sun Valley. If you know anything of his ministry, you know that this is the gospel he brings before his people every week. Perhaps you would like to read an excellent sermon of his on just this:
http://www.ondoctrine.com/2mac0032.htm

Dearest saints of First Baptist Church, of ________we have been seeking the mind of Christ in service for Him for some time now. One of the biggest stumbling blocks that we have encountered in finding a church/pulpit in which to serve has been this very doctrine. Perhaps, I have no way of knowing for sure, I have as they say in the vernacular of our day just “shot myself in the foot” by answering your question on salvation and grace in just this manner. I do not know – God knows, and it is at His direction and not ours or yours that we walk. We look to Him alone. And we thank you for your patience.”