AMERICANISM - DEVOTION TO THE U. S.

It is great to be an American. In some countries writing an article like this one could get me in big trouble with the government. I can’t think of a better country in this world than America. So, what is the danger. The danger is two- fold actually. One is that we push our Americanism on other countries and people, and the other is that we allow America to take the place of God.

The danger of devotion to the U. S. shows itself when one goes beyond liking the country and idolizes it. We may send missionaries to foreign shores and instead of teaching them Christianity, we may be attempting to teach them to think like Americans. It would be wonderful if all countries allowed religious freedom, but sometimes Americans equate freedom of religion with true Christianity. We need to remember that the early church had no such freedom and they were probably truer Christians than many of us. Paul admonished them to obey the governing authorities, even though those same authorities had arrested him. Peter and John explained in Acts 4 that if there was a choice between obeying men (governing authorities)and God, they would obey God. They never tried to overthrow the government, nor did they disobey any laws that were unjust, unless the law tried to keep them from doing God’s will. We need to draw a clear distinction between what is American, and what is Christian since they are not the same thing.

We should never put devotion to the U. S. or anything else before God. There are many who equate the writings and teachings of the ‘Founding Fathers’ with the teaching of scripture. There is a huge difference that we should recognize between the writing of wise but uninspired men and the writing of scripture by men inspired by God. One might try, as many have, to say that since we have freedom of religion protected (not granted) by the Bill of Rights, “all religions are equally valid” or “one church is as good as another.” That may indeed be the way things are seen legally in this country, but that is not the way the Bible views the subject. Jesus said he was “THE way” not “A way”, “THE truth” not “some of the truth”, and “THE life” not "an American way of life". He declared that not one single soul could get to the father and thus heaven any other way. He also stated in Matt. 16:18 that he was going to build one church that would be his. At last report in the city of Los Angeles there were over 600 different religious groups, and Jesus only founded one. Equal legal rights does not mean equal in God’s eyes. There are many other things about which we may be confused if we take the government’s word for it instead of God’s.

We must be careful to separate good from bad and line everything up against the word of God. It is great to be an American, but it is better to be a Christian. We are not to be American Christians any more than we are any other kind of Christians. We are to be Christians only and obey God only.

ABSOLUTISM - COMPLETE UNRESTRICTED POWER IN GOVERNMENT
If God is your government unrestricted power is a wonderful thing, unfortunately most of the countries of the world today don’t even recognize His existence. Even our great nation which was originally founded on a deep respect for God and his absolute power has fallen into Satan’s trap of believing we make the laws. There are even many Christians who fail to properly understand the role of government in their lives. For example, a couple of weeks ago in our Bible class one of our members boldly explained to us that because of Romans 13 if the president declared that we had to turn in our Bibles we would have to do it. There are many others who believe that such things as abortion, fornication, or even homosexuality is now no longer sinful since the government has made it no longer illegal. These individuals allow the government to dictate their morality rather than allowing God and his word to do so.


For the majority of this country’s history God played an important role, but now He has been removed from the throne and Man’s selfish fleshly desires have replaced. Along with his removal the government is becoming more and more powerful in its ability to dictate the lives of its citizens. One school system this past month revoked a student’s first amendment right to free speech without even batting an eye by refusing to let him mention God in a graduation speech. The danger this poses to the church is clear. How long will it be before churches are taxed, subject to the fair hiring practices of industry, or even closed down because they are involved in "hate speech". Even when (notice I said when not if) the government refuses to give us the rights that we have been endowed with by our Creator, we must stand firm as Peter and John did in Acts 4:17-20. We must boldly proclaim even against an absolutist government “we will obey God rather than men.”

Decide now so there will be no question for you when others are foundering in confusion and stand between two opinions. I exhort you today as Elijah did in I Kings 18:21 when he battled the prophets of Baal, “How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if the government, then follow it.” Just remember at the day of judgement even the officials of the governments of the world will be judged.

Time for a short quiz for all of you English scholars out there. Since most of us have been speaking and writing in English all of our lives, this should be really quite simple. I’ll put some sentences and you just pick the one that sounds right to you. Ready or not here we go. 

On this first one imagine you called me on the phone and asked, “Is this James Pasley?”. Which of the following would be the right way for me to answer? (1) That’s me., (2) This is he., or (3) This is him. 

Okay, let’s just do one more and then we’ll check our answers and see what we’ve learned. This time suppose I ask you, “Didn’t I see you and the president together yesterday?”. Which answer would be right grammatically? (1) It wasn’t me., (2) It wasn’t he and I together., (3) It wasn’t us., or (4) Maybe it was me, but not him.

Sometimes it is hard to know what sounds right and even more often, at least with grammar, what sounds right is not correct. If you guessed number two on both questions you got the right answer, but those two don’t really sound right to us, do they? Most of us would have chosen any of the other choices before choosing number two. My wife is a certified elementary teacher and a writer and she missed them, so don’t feel too bad. Because of the rampant practice of misusing these pronouns in everyday speech even strict grammarians have begun to accept this usage.

What is the point of all this, you may be asking? The point really is quite simple. If something sounds right to us or we think it is right that doesn’t make it right. Even if the majority of people believe something is right that doesn’t make it right. Now in the area of grammar or even man-made laws like the speed limit if enough people make enough of a fuss those rules and laws can be and have been changed. There are some laws, however, that are beyond our ability to change. Gravity is one example of this kind of law. We can accept it, deny it, or ignore it, we could even all vote to abolish it. Regardless of what we say or do the law of gravity is unchanged, and stepping off of a cliff will still result in a nasty fall. That is the way all of God’s laws are. 

God told Naaman to dip seven times in the Jordan River to cure his leprosy, but Naaman didn’t think that sounded right, so, he headed toward home, rejecting the law God had given for his recovery. He even suggested some alternative rivers that he thought would be better. One thing that he couldn’t change was the fact that he still had leprosy. He continued to have leprosy until he submitted to the will of God. In the same way today we have people denying God’s laws, ignoring them, and suggesting alternatives. Unfortunately, as long as we do so we are lawbreakers and guilty of sin against God.

God established marriage, defined it as one man and one woman, and set it as the only acceptable outlet for sexual expression. Our society has tried to change any and everything to what sounds good to them or what they think should be right. What we have to get through our thick heads is that no matter what laws we pass in our country, no matter what is acceptable to society as a whole, and no matter what churches and their leaders compromise on; God’s laws regarding sexuality and marriage will still remain the same. His laws, not ours, will judge us on the day of judgment.

The congressional delegates of the state of Massachusetts may say that two men can marry, but that does not make them married(Matthew 19:4-5). Our society may accept that two adults who love each other are not wrong to become sexually involved even though they are unmarried, but God still calls it sin(1 Corinthians 6:19-7:3). 

Marriage and sexuality are just the tip of the iceberg. Space doesn’t allow us to deal with all of the moral and religious standards that God has put in place, but we will all stand before Him to give an account of the things we have done(2 Corinthians 5:9-11). Until we understand that God’s laws are immutable (unchangeable) and eternal, we will continue to be in danger of receiving his wrath. How do we think that we can receive God’s promises and blessings while we disregard his warnings, disrespect his ordinances and, in essence, spit in His face like rebellious teenagers. We’d better wake up and realize who is in authority; and who is not!

When Jesus was about to be arrested the gospels record that He went to the Mount of Olives and prayed. Many may recall that He asked His Father to “let this cup pass” 3 times. It must have been important for Him to mention it 3 times. But, did you know that there was something else that He prayed for that night that He mentioned not 3, but 4 times? Something so important to Him that even with His impending death only hours away He prayed about this thing more than the crucifixion itself. Was He asking God to be sure to raise him up again? No. Was He praying for some other need that He had? No. He was praying for His followers. In fact, He was praying for everyone who has ever been a believer. He prayed that all the believers might be one, and He prayed it at least 4 times (John 17:11-23). How sad Christ must be as He looks down on the hundreds of divisions among the people who claim to follow Him.

This is certainly nothing new, it has been going on since the first century (1 Corinthians 1:10-13), but that is no excuse for us to allow it to continue in our lives. He was not pleased with division then and He is not pleased with it now. In one county there are at least 20 different kinds of churches with 20 different doctrines about how to become a Christian, how to worship God, and/or how to get to Heaven. There are over 40 churches listed in the phone book and oddly enough some with the same teachings have divided for various other reasons. This county is certainly not unusual in this regard. Churches split almost daily for one reason or another, and new denominations spring up nearly as often. I have a book almost 2 inches thick full of information on different denominations in the United States. 

Is this what Jesus was praying for when he prayed that “they all might be one”? I can’t believe it is. Many people say “one church is as good as another”, or “choose the church of your choice”, or “we are all serving the same God”, or “we are all Christians just taking different paths to get to the same place”, or something similar. That sounds nice and most people like to hear that. The question we have to ask ourselves is, “Is that true?”. Can we choose any way we want to get to Heaven or does God specify? Can someone become a Christian 20 different ways? Who gets to decide what is acceptable worship and what is not? In other words, what standard of authority, if any, are we following.

Interestingly enough, the answer is in Jesus’ own prayer in John 17. He asks God to sanctify(literally, ‘make holy’) His followers by God’s truth (John 17:17). Then He gave the source of God’s truth, “thy word is truth” (John 17:17). So, Jesus asks God to make His followers holy by using his true word. If we believe that the Bible is God’s word then when we have disagreements we can look to the Bible to give us the answers that are right with God and that will make us holy.

Jesus promised to build only one church in Matthew 16:18. He prayed for unity no less than 4 times the night he was betrayed(John 17). He said we must not only call Him, Lord, but also do the will of His Father to enter the kingdom (Matthew 7:21). Ephesians 4:4 tells us there is only one body, and Colossians 1:18 teaches that the body is the church and Christ is the head of that body. Any other arrangement causes deformity. Christ is not one head with multiple bodies, nor can the church have any head other than Christ. One more thing along this line, in Matthew 7:14 Jesus makes it clear that there is only one gate that leads to life and one way to that one gate. He also said we must find it. We can’t make our own path to get to heaven because no man has ever been there. We must follow the path that Jesus laid out for us.

Just remember God is not the source of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33). Here is something for you to ponder as you go through the week. If Jesus only built one church, as he promised, and there are over twenty in your area; assuming one of them is the church Christ built, who is responsible for building all the others? We should all want to be a part of the church Christ built of which He is the head and savior. Study God’s Word and see if you can find the church that you are a member of mentioned and described there.

I regret that I do not have a copy of the article that is referenced in this one as being written in response to a series of articles on the Old and New Testaments that I wrote. You can, however, view the three articles on the Old and New Testaments here, here, and here. Those 3 articles as well as the one following were written in 2004.

A short time ago I wrote an article about the Old and New Testaments, three articles in fact. I thought they were precise and clear, but apparently was mistaken. There was an article, which you may or may not have read, entitled, “In Defense of Biblical Truth” and written as a response to my article and some other article that I have not seen and certainly did not write, though their article does not make that clear. The defense of Biblical truth is important, which is the reason for the articles I write and the reason for the article to which these men objected. I don’t know if they read all three of my articles or just one, since they don’t say in their response. What I do know is that they say that my article, “seemed to attempt to destroy the value of the Old Testament in our Bibles.” Within the same paragraph as the above quote their response says, “It is true that salvation is no longer obtainable through the ‘Old Testament Law and Ordinances,’ (moral, civil, or religious)....” I thought that this latter idea and not the former was the very idea that my own articles had covered. Though the accusation is made that my article, “was written as if all the Old Testament was completely fulfilled, and would seem to suggest that we had no further need of it in our day”, there is not anywhere a single quote from my article to substantiate the claim. 

I do firmly believe that the Old Testament is “completely fulfilled”, but that does not mean that I do not believe it is the inspired Word of God, nor does it mean that I don’t believe that it is a valuable portion of our Bibles, nor that we have no further need of it today. I should think that would be clear from the fact that I quoted from or referred to 5 different sections of Old Testament scripture and used them just as 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”, but I suppose not. Romans 15:4 says, “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” There is no doubt that the Old Testament is scripture, and no doubt that we are to learn from it even though we are not saved by it or under that law any longer.

The only real argument in the entire response deals with whether the prophecy of the Old Testament has already been fulfilled or is yet to be fulfilled. Only one supposed proof that it has not been fulfilled is given even though we are to believe that there are “too many” to put in the article. The one prophecy they mention is Zechariah 12:10 "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn." The argument is made that since “They never mourned, they mocked. There was no bitterness but hatred. They killed him.” this scripture has not been fulfilled. Of course, I believe that the Bible teaches that it was fulfilled. So, let’s see.

First, since the Old Testament, including Zechariah, is inspired by God we should start with the immediate context. Certainly we could look at the whole chapter or even the whole book, and perhaps we will in another article. For now let us just examine the few verses around this one. Zechariah 12:9-13:1 says, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. {10} And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. {11} In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. {12} And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; {13} The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; {14} All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart." (13:1)  "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness." 

Many of these verses speak of ‘that day’, but what day? There are several clues. Verse ten itself says that God will pour out his ‘spirit of grace’. Chapter 13 and verse one says, there will be a fountain opened for sin. Verse ten also says that they will ‘look on me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him,’. All of these things are to happen in that day. So, if I may be so bold as to ask, which day (past, present, or future) did, are, or will all three of these things happen. Try this answer if you don’t have one of your own, or compare this one to the one you came up with. God poured (past) out his grace and the spirit of his grace on the day that he opened (past) a fountain for the forgiveness of sin, the same day that the inhabitants of Jerusalem looked upon me (Jesus) whom they had pierced. 

Second, John 19:34-37 clearly says that the piercing part took place on the day Jesus died on the cross and all of the rest was to be on the same day the prophecy said ‘that day’. It should also be noted that even though there were many who mocked, hated, and schemed to kill Jesus; those who were the remnant who remained faithful did mourn at the death of Christ. Jesus during his life had made it clear that not everyone who called himself a child of Abraham, or of the house of David, or a Jew was really and truly one (John 8:39-44).

I am never so glad that God is not under man’s law as when I read the parable of the workers in the vineyard in Matthew chapter 20. Jesus begins by telling us that he is using this earthly example to describe the way things are in the kingdom of heaven. Then he describes a man who owns a vineyard going out to find people to work for him. This man represents God in the story. Early in the morning he finds some workers and makes an agreement with them that if they will work they will receive a ‘denarius’ (the King James says penny) which was the average pay for a days work. The men agree and go to work. Later in the morning he goes to find more workers and they agree to work for “whatsoever is right.” He did this again at noon, 3 in the afternoon, and 5 in the evening. Then when it got dark they came to get their paycheck so to speak. 

This is where it starts to get really interesting because we would expect that if he was going to pay a day’s wage to the first group, then naturally he would pay less to those who worked less. But Jesus surprises us by telling that the man gave the ones who had worked the least a day’s wage. Well, then he is surely going to give the others who have worked longer more, right? Wrong! He gives them the same amount and they get mad. Be honest you probably would too. But was he “unfair”? Didn’t they get what they had agreed to receive? And wasn’t it his right to be generous and kind to the others who would not have had enough to feed their families if he had not? Would they have been mad if after being paid they had seen the same man give a beggar a denarius? Probably not. So, why were they so angry about this situation? They apparently thought that he was paying the others a higher hourly wage than they were getting. Then he asks the great question, “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?” Remember that this is a description of how things work in God’s kingdom.

If someone asked this question today the answer would have to be a resounding, “NO!” Let’s look at some of the laws this man in Jesus’ story broke. The ACLU and workers’ unions would have been all over this guy. There is no indication that he did the proper paper work on these workers, some of them might have been illegal. He also didn’t make sure that he was getting an equal cross-section of the population (i.e. - women, minorities, handicapped, etc.). The real problem though is the pay. Can you imagine what would happen if Wal-mart or any business hired 10 people who worked from 8 AM - 5 PM and 10 more people that worked from 4 PM - 5 PM and then gave them the same pay? The people who only worked an hour would be ecstatic, but there would be 10 others who would quickly be involved in a lawsuit, and they would surely win. No, it is not lawful to do what you will with your own in our country, there are thousands of regulations.

But these laws and regulations are exactly the reason that we should be grateful that God is above man’s law. Let’s look at the spiritual teaching in this parable for a minute. God goes out into the world to find people who will work in his vineyard, some come in the morning (at a young age) and work all day long (their whole lives). Others may come at later times (twenties, forties, sixties, even eighties) and only serve a short time. When the accounts are settled on judgment day, however, only the faithfulness of the service and not the length of the service will count. We must be faithful until the close of day to receive the reward. How sad if one who came early and worked most of the time were to quit and leave before receiving the reward.

Wouldn’t it be sad if we couldn’t receive a home in heaven because we didn’t come early enough, as some teach. What hope would there be for some one 50 years old who had never been taught the gospel? What could we tell them? “You can’t go to heaven, but maybe God will let you look in for a while at the gate.” How horrible that would be. Praise be to God that He accepts us at whatever age we learn and obey in faith.  This is not an excuse to “sow our wild oats” and think that we will get right with God later. There may not be a later. There are many benefits that come from serving God from the early morning hours, that may be lost if we don’t come until late in life. How many have come to Jesus late in life and regret that their health has been wasted by their sinful living, or that they raised worldly wicked children that they can not reach now. Those regrets may haunt them to the grave, but Heaven can still be their eternal home. 

God is just and He is fair and it is lawful for Him to do what He wants to with what is His. The labor laws don’t apply to Him, and no one will be able to sue or appeal to the government to overrule His decisions. Acts 10:34-35 says,  "Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: {35} But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him."

As we start this new year this is a question that we need to answer. Where we will spend eternity is dependent upon the answer and the follow through of that very question. So, the question comes to you, “What will you do with Jesus?” Even if you don’t consciously answer this question you are answering it each and every day by the way you live your life. 

In Matthew chapter 27 Pilate is facing the most difficult and most significant decision of his career. He has Jesus, falsely accused of treason and other crimes, before him. Pilate can find no wrongdoing in Christ. Under those circumstances Jesus should have been cleared and freed. Pilate made a mistake that is almost unimaginable. Picture a courtroom with a judge and a defendant and a plaintiff, a common picture. Now, after the questioning is over and no evidence against the accused has been found, imagine if you can, the judge turning to the accusers and saying, “What should I do?” What do you think the accusers will say? As shocking as it seems that is what Pilate did. You see Pilate was asking the right question, he just went to the wrong source for the answer.

Pilate’s wife had sent a message to him to have nothing to do with Jesus. She warned him that Jesus was a just man. Of course, he is much more than that, and her advice to have nothing to do with him was not wise.  Pilate, regardless of her advice, could not avoid this decision. Even though he tried to pass it off to Herod (Luke 23), Herod sent Jesus back. We are in the same difficult position as Pilate. We can’t pass the decision off to someone else, we must each answer for himself.

There are several responses that can be made to this question: 


1) You may choose to ignore it and do nothing. This is the same as rejecting Jesus.


2) You may choose to wait until later and do nothing now. This is the same as rejecting Jesus.


3) You may choose to reject Jesus and his claim on you.


4) You may claim to serve him in word, but do your own will. This is also the same as rejecting Him.


5) You may pretend to serve him with your actions, but not with your heart. This is rejecting Him.


6) You may ask others, even Jesus’ enemies, what they think you should do? This can be dangerous.


7) You may try to serve Jesus and someone or something else. This rejects His absolute sovereignty.


8) You may choose to serve Him and worship Him according to his commands with your whole heart.

You may be able to think of other responses or scenarios, but the fact is that anything other than total submission to Jesus and his commandments is a rejection of Him as Lord and Christ. 

What are you going to do with Jesus? You had better make sure you choose wisely and follow through because one day all who have ever lived will stand before Him in judgment and wait to see what He will do with them. I will be there, and you will be there, too. It will be too late then. We must answer now. 

Is that an offensive question to you? If so, ask yourself why. The reason, most likely, is that you believe the idea that you can join the church of your choice, I can join the church of my choice, and others can join the church of their choice with all of us meeting in heaven at the end. This idea has been spread throughout the country and anyone who disagrees with it is considered judgmental and divisive. Since the idea of one Christian group being just as good as another has been embraced by most people the movement now is to equate the Christian religion with all other world religions. My last article dealt with the distinctive nature of Christianity. Now, if you are willing I want to challenge you to examine the idea that all churches are of equal value and see if it is true.

First, some believe that a big church is better than a small church, or that a rich church is better than a poor church. That is ridiculous, God is interested in faithfulness not money or prestige. Noah and his family were only 8 people in the whole world, but God thought they were the better group. In the letters to the seven churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 there was a poor church, Smyrna, and a rich church, Laodicea, read it and see whether God thought they were of equal value. Despite these two examples, we cannot go to the other extreme and assume the smallest and poorest are always better. Quite simply size, wealth, and popularity from men is irrelevant in God’s eyes.

I believe there are some things that can and will make one church better than another. Look at the following comparisons and see if you find them to be true. They may seem rather obvious, but they fly in the face of the idea that it doesn’t matter which church you go to or of which you are a part.

(1) A church established by the Lord is better than a church established by men.
(2) Churches that teach truth are better than churches that teach error.
(3) Churches that teach all the truth are better than those that teach only part of the truth.
(4) A church whose doctrines give all glory to God is better than one whose doctrines give glory to men.
(5) A church whose sole authority is the Word of God is better than one that refuses to obey Christ’s commands and takes for doctrines the commandments of men.
(6) A church that encourages godly living is better than one that allows and encourages sinfulness to continue unchecked.
(7) Churches that worship in spirit and in truth (Jn. 4:24) are better than those that worship in vain (Mt. 15:9).
(8) Churches that practice the truths they teach are better than those that do not.

Now, honestly, do you really believe that all the churches in the world, or even in your community are equivalent in these 8 areas? How does your church stack up? Compare churches not by size, wealth, location, building and grounds, its history or age, or any other worldly measure. Instead compare churches by their willingness to teach and practice the things God teaches in the New Testament of Jesus Christ. If you still believe churches are pretty much the same, take a closer look at the 7 churches in Revelation. Five of those churches were sternly warned because of their sinfulness and 2 of them were on the verge of being disowned (2:5, 3:16). Two others had wicked factions that God was going to fight against and destroy (2:14-16, 2:20-23). Another is already mostly spiritually dead and the rest is about to die (3:1-3). There are two churches that are complimented and encouraged because they were faithful. Which of these seven churches would you have wanted to be a part of if you had been there?

At the time Revelation was written there was only one church in each of these 7 towns some faithful Christians were stuck to do the best they could in some unfaithful churches. There are in your community today dozens of different churches. There is no reason for anyone to feel stuck in a church that is spiritually dead, full of wickedness, practicing false doctrine, following men, or any of the other things mentioned above. Let me suggest that we have two responsibilities if we find ourselves in that kind of church. First it is our responsibility to point out the problem biblically, point out the biblical solution, and encourage the change necessary to correct the problem. If that attempt were to fail, then we have our second responsibility: to stop supporting sin and error and come to the truth ourselves even if no one else follows. The fact of the matter is that regardless of what they call themselves those who reject the counsel of God against their own souls and will not repent are not Christians: they are not believers. In 2 Corinthians 6:14-17 Paul reminds us that we should not be yoked together with unbelievers, and that we are to come out from among them and be separate. If you cannot find a church that follows the Bible it is still your responsibility to worship God as He demands, even if that means you are alone as Noah was in his day.

How would you feel on the day of judgment if your association with sinful false teachers caused your friends, neighbors, children, or other family members to be lost? What if you yourself become one of those who call Jesus, ‘Lord, Lord’, but to whom He responds, “Depart from me”? 

If you are looking for a church look for the best and go even if it is miles away. Just be sure that you determine its value based on the Bible and not on any other basis. 

Happy New Year! How about those new year’s resolutions? Are you going to do it this year? Are you ruined already and waiting to try again next time? It seems everyone makes resolutions for the new year whether they make a big fuss over it or not. And, it seems that everyone breaks them by the second week of the year. Maybe we set our goals too high, perhaps our confidence is too low, could be we make too many resolutions to keep, but whatever the reason the breaking of new year’s resolutions is as much of a tradition as the making of them.

Why not do it different this year? I mean let’s face it we haven’t exactly got a great success record with the current plan, and since we can’t fire ourselves or trade ourselves to another team, why not a new plan? Funny, I can’t think of a good reason to keep making the same mistakes over and over again either. 

A plan has to be simple to be truly effective and so my new plan is. Of course you don’t have to follow it, but you are certainly free to try it if you would like. So, here it is: ONLY ONE THING IS NEEDED. Now, most of us have long lists of hopes and dreams for the new year, and some of it is well outside the realm of reality. But, if we could just do one thing in 2013 (yes, just ONE thing), then about 330 days (We are already into February) seems like enough time to do it or at least to get a good start on it.

So, what is the 1 thing? Look at this short section of Luke 10:38-42 "Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. {39} And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. {40} But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. {41} And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: {42} But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."

Did you see it? I bet you did, but just to make sure I’ll repeat it. Martha was a lot like all of us. She had a dozen irons in the fire: a load of clothes in the wash, dinner cooking, a full-time job, a part-time job, a house to clean, guests to serve, etc. We don’t know what all here worries were, but we can be sure that the 21st century has not been the only one with busy people. Jesus said that she was “troubled about many things” translated to our time, she was ‘stressed out’. Jesus is concerned about this condition which among other things is not healthy. In verse 42 Jesus tells us that Mary has chosen something that will not be taken away from her, and that is the ‘one thing’ that is needed. All of the things that Martha was concerned about were temporary and unnecessary. 

What had Mary chosen? What does the scripture say? Verse 39 says that Mary “sat at Jesus’ feet” (she was spending time with him), and “heard his word” (she was listening to him). Now, Jesus said one thing was needful, so, let’s put this together into one thing. Mary was spending time listening to Jesus. Look at the contrast between these two sisters. Jesus, the Son of God, the Creator of the Universe was in their home and Martha was missing out. Mary knew the dishes could be washed after Jesus was gone. Maybe Martha thought that she could impress Jesus if she fixed an incredible meal, we don’t know what she was thinking. Whatever it was she was wrong. The only thing she really needed to be doing she was neglecting.

We seem to be determined to make everything more complicated than it should be. This year get back to the simple satisfying life of spending time listening to Jesus. If we would the noises in the world around us would grow dimmer, and the voice of the savior clearer. Since Jesus isn’t here on earth as he was, we can’t sit at his feet as Mary did and as Martha should have. We must hear his voice calling through the inspiration of the Bible. As a preacher of the Gospel, my task is to preach the Word of God, and I try to do that whenever I preach and even through articles like this one. I’m sure my voice is not as pleasant to listen to as Christ’s, but I invite you all to come and hear that though the voice is not the same the teaching is. 

May we all seek to put God first this year and to spend time listening to those things He has spoken to us through his son. Hebrews 1:1-4

QITB - Questions in the Bible - is a series of articles based on questions that were actually asked in the Bible. They are on a variety of topics for that very reason, so they will be grouped in the category 'questions in the bible' on the right side.

As Jesus taught in the temple the chief priests and elders of the people asked Him this very question.(Mt. 21:23; Mk. 11:28; Lk. 20:2) Imagine what would happen today if in a classroom or a church building auditorium the leaders of the school or church found someone they had never hired or invited standing before the group teaching. If you ever tried it you would find out. They would immediately ask ‘What are you doing here?’, ‘What right do you have to be here?’, ‘Who said you could do this?’, and those questions would likely be followed by a forced exit or even a call to the police. Those would all be reasonable questions to ask under the circumstances, and we shouldn’t necessarily think evil of the priests and elders for asking the same things of Christ. Jesus even showed His willingness to answer those questions if they would have only demonstrated their honesty in seeking to know the truth. Unfortunately, they were not interested in the truth and would not answer Jesus’ question about John the Baptizer.

The question is a good one and one that we should answer. By what authority do we do the things we do? There are many possible answers, but only one that is pleasing to God. Whether it is in the area of religion or not we must have authority for the things we do, we can not just do whatever we please. But, how do we decide what standard of authority we are going to use? 

Some say, ‘if it feels good do it’. This allows a person to do anything as long as there are not any guilty feelings. The most obvious problem with this is that some people don’t ever feel guilty about anything. There are some people who enjoy causing others pain or lying, stealing, killing, etc. According to this way of thinking those actions wouldn’t be wrong if it feels good.

Others believe, ‘if it is legal it must be okay’. This belief has encouraged many to do things that result in the destruction of literally thousands of lives every year. People do things that God despises simply because the government has made it legal. Drunkenness, gambling, abortion, homosexuality, divorce, and many other things that God never wanted are not even thought of as something to be avoided, and all because people believe that if it was bad it would be against the law.

Many practice the ‘my pastor said’ form of authority. These think that religious leaders are somehow above sin and error and anything spoken by one of these so-called ‘Holy men’ can’t be wrong. As a preacher myself, I am appalled by this thinking. I know that I am human and make mistakes, say the wrong things, and sin. Think of all of the atrocities, like the 9/11 tragedy, that have been performed because of this very attitude.

There are probably other standards that people use to authorize their activities, but the Bible is the only standard that never changes and never fails or leads us wrong. There are certainly those who have twisted the scriptures and taught falsehoods (2 Peter 3:15-16), but the Bible, God’s Word is always true (John 17:17). Only God can authorize an activity and make it right. God at times has given others the authority to punish evil or to forbid certain activities, but no one can make something right if God says it is wrong. No one and nothing, not your feelings; not the government; and not a religious leader, can give you the authority to do something God has forbidden.

Jesus was doing what He did by the authority of God. What about you? What about your church? No church council can overrule God. If you are ready to get back to the Bible as your only source of authority, come visit with us. We believe the Bible and only the Bible should be our standard for authority. Why not visit a church of Christ near you.