THE UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT WORTH LIVING - PLATO

THE MEANING OF FATHERHOOD

Our lesson for the evening was about certain traits and characteristics we all want to see in our biological fathers and using the acronym F-A-T-H-E-R. We have a perfect, heavenly Father and all the attributes, traits and characteristics we want to see in an ideal father are already being manifested by Him in how He has related with humankind since the foundation of the world.

The F is for faithful.

Fathers must be faithful husbands. They lose the moral ground in leading or attempting to lead their children to righteousness if their lives are characterized by unfaithfulness and infidelity. And sadly, most societies today have found both to be acceptable. In a gathering of men, nary an eyebrow is raised when talk goes around to or about someone having an affair with this and that woman. Whether it was a one night stand, anaffair or an open secret, nobody seems to be surprised anymore. What's even more surprising is that men who are prone to such escapades seem to be more admired and even idolized by their peers and other fellowmen.

Fathers must be faithful to their families. As husbands, they must always be faithful and devoted to their wives. There are certain companies now which are adopting certain policies in the hiring of applicants and other key personnel. They want to see if the people they want to get for certain positions are faithful to their wives. If they're not, they would likely be unfaithful to the company as well. The government bureaucracy should adopt the same policies.

The A stands for affectionate.

Today's fathers are probably more affectionate than those of the previous generations. Fathers from whatever generation are known not be demonstrative in showing affection to those they love. Hugging, crying, holding hands (whether with their wives or their children), and other similargestures and behavior are supposedly unmanly. Virile, macho fathers aren't supposed to show their feelings. They're supposed to be invincible and inscrutable. This mindset has alienated many children from their fathers and has caused countless problems in many families. Everyone needs to love and be loved. That's human nature and we were certainly made that way. So there's nothing wrong about fathers being more demonstrative and expressive about their feelings to those they dearly love. If you're a son and you feel so dumb, down and discouraged and your world seems to be crumbling and falling apart and the solution to your woes and grief is neither in cash or kind, wouldn't it be such a wonderful feeling if all of a sudden your dad comes along, puts his arm around you and gently tells you, "Don't worry son, whatever is your problem, I will always be your dad and I will always love you."

Wow! Wouldn't that be great? You're in a mess, in crisis, in the gutter and here's your dad telling you that? That's how the prodigal son must have felt when his own dad ran to him and embraced him when he went back home after going away to spend in wild abandon his own inheritance. If you're this kind of a father who will not hesitate to show affection to his loved ones especially in their hour of need, then blessed and happy are your children indeed!
Affection is not something you can buy or earn whether you graduatedsumma cum laude from UP or Harvard. It's what you are deep inside.Often we learn the hard way that it's always better to be kind thanto be right.

The T stands for trusting.

If teen-aged kids today were asked what one trait they would like to see more in their fathers, I think trust would rank high in the list. Many fathers, myself included, don't seem to trust their children too much in so manyareas of concern from the food they eat, (why McDonald's?) the clothes they wear (do they have to expose their navels?), the friends they choose (I should know them all) to the careers they will pursue. We tend to be critical and judgmental often thinking they're not old enough to know what they're doing. Often we forget that our children have feelings and are distinct human individuals with unique personalities of their own.

The bible tells us in Colossians 3:21 (NIV) "Fathers, do not embitter your children or they will be discouraged." Also in Ephesians 6:4 (NIV), "Fathers, do not exasperate your children…" is a clear command addressed to fathers. And there are many instances whereby us fathers exasperate and discourage our children, from our double standards in modeling and teaching the right examples, over and under discipline, insensitivity, bad or negative attitudes to lack of quality time spent with them. One pastor and author saidthat the term quality time is misleading. You need quantity time in order to have quality time with your kids. I agree. As I often say, no amount of success can compensate for failure in the home.

The H is for honorable.

Fathers are supposed to be men of honor, men of integrity. Their word is their bond. They keep their promises. They honor their wedding vows. Alas, more and more fathers today are honorable only on paper or in their eyes…an ocean of difference lies between what they say and what they do. Dying if not gone are the days when honor was most valued by men. They would choose death rather than lie or dishonor their names.

One Hebrew word for man is "zakar" which means covenant-keeper. The word is closely related to the Arabic word "dakar" which refers to the male sex organ. The verb form of zakar means "to remember". Hence, if you combine the meaning of the verb and the noun forms, what you get is the "man remembering the covenant". When God told Abraham that He was making a covenant between Him and Abraham's seed, circumcision was the sign God instituted to seal the covenant, requiring hence that every male Israelite be circumcised on the 8th day after birth.

If we look at it closely, a considerable amount of the Old Testament revolves around the theme "to remember". This means that clearly and in no uncertain terms, God wants His people to remember…His covenant, the commandments, His decrees. He keeps telling us to remember because we keep forgetting. It was true then, even more so now. And marriages, families and societies today are breaking apart because men are forgetting or worse, ignoring to keep the covenant.

During the old days, men used to carry salt in pouches (he forgot to locate the bible passage) as this was not only a precious commodity but a form of money as well. (In fact, there were times the Roman legionnaires were paid salt instead of coins.) When two men entered into a covenant, they would seal the agreement by getting some salt from their own pouches andmix it with the salt on the other's pouch. The contracting party that breaks the covenant is usually required to take away and separate the pieces or grains of salt that was mixed in his pouch to symbolize the breach of contract. What a pathetic sight that should be!

The E stands for energetic.

Fathers cannot afford to be lazy or slothful. Since they are divinely mandated to be the breadwinners and providers in the family, they have to work diligently in their chosen professions. Fathers have to be responsible providers especially when there are mouths to feed and bodies to clothe. Children feel secure, encouraged and inspired when they see their fathers consistently providing and looking after their needs.

They have to be more emphatic and energetic in performing this particular role and function considering that more and more wives today are earning a lot more than their husbands. When this is the situation in a particular family, problems (emotional, relational or otherwise) will not be far behind. When a wife earns more than the husband, she will directly or indirectly challenge or undermine his authority and leadership as head of the family. The consequences are often disastrous.

The R stands for Rewarder.

Fathers ought to be more affirming and rewarding when it comes to relating with their children. We are quick to point out their mistakes, impose the necessary disciplinary measures etc etc yet hardly ever give them praise when they do something good no matter how petty or trivial the deed may be. Dorothy Law Nolte wrote in one of her literary pieces that if children live with criticism, they learn to condemn. If they live with hostility, they learn to fight. If they live with ridicule, they learn to be shy. If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence. If they live with tolerance, they learn to be patient. If they live with praise, they learn to appreciate. If they live with acceptance, they learn to love. If they live with approval, they learn to like themselves. If they live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.

R can also stand for Rewarded. When fathers perform according to their God-given roles and functions, it is certain they will be rewarded.

Success in fatherhood lies not in the strength of your arms or in the volume of your cash but in the closeness of your heart to the heart of God.

I thus exhort all fathers reading this now to seriously consider the foregoing. In our hands and under our care is a tremendous trust and responsibility. There are certain roles and functions that God has clearly ordained for us to assume and perform. For His glory and for His honor. For our sakes and those of our children, there is no choice but to obey.

Disobedience breeds nothing but tears and sorrow. We will always reap what we sow.

Be good and faithful fathers. Be happy and content with what you have. Whatever your situation and circumstance, be grateful and thankful to God. He is always in control. May you all have a good and godly day! May God bless us all!

(From the June 16 meeting of the Sigma Rho Bible Study. Posted by Pastor Aloysius Cezar)

FOUNDATIONS OF BIBLICAL CHRISTIANITY

THE CAMBRIDGE DECLARATION
of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals
April 20, 1996

Evangelical churches today are increasingly dominated by the spirit of this age rather than by the Spirit of Christ. As evangelicals, we call ourselves to repent of this sin and to recover the historic Christian faith.

In the course of history words change. In our day this has happened to the word "evangelical." In the past it served as a bond of unity between Christians from a wide diversity of church traditions. Historic evangelicalism was confessional. It embraced the essential truths of Christianity as those were defined by the great ecumenical councils of the church. In addition, evangelicals also shared a common heritage in the "solas" of the sixteenth century Protestant Reformation.

Today the light of the Reformation has been significantly dimmed. The consequence is that the word "evangelical" has become so inclusive as to have lost its meaning. We face the peril of losing the unity it has taken centuries to achieve. Because of this crisis and because of our love of Christ, his gospel and his church, we endeavor to assert anew our commitment to the central truths of the Reformation and of historic evangelicalism. These truths we affirm not because of their role in our traditions, but because we believe that they are central to the Bible.

Sola Scriptura: The Erosion Of Authority

Scripture alone is the inerrant rule of the church's life, but the evangelical church today has separated Scripture from its authoritative function. In practice, the church is guided, far too often, by the culture. Therapeutic technique, marketing strategies, and the beat of the entertainment world often have far more to say about what the church wants, how it functions and what it offers, than does the Word of God. Pastors have neglected their rightful oversight of worship, including the doctrinal content of the music. As biblical authority has been abandoned in practice, as its truths have faded from Christian consciousness, and as its doctrines have lost their saliency, the church has been increasingly emptied of its integrity, moral authority and direction.

Rather than adapting Christian faith to satisfy the felt needs of consumers, we must proclaim the law as the only measure of true righteousness and the gospel as the only announcement of saving truth. Biblical truth is indispensable to the church's understanding, nurture and discipline.

Scripture must take us beyond our perceived needs to our real needs and liberate us from seeing ourselves through the seductive images, cliche's, promises. and priorities of mass culture. It is only in the light of God's truth that we understand ourselves aright and see God's provision for our need. The Bible, therefore, must be taught and preached in the church. Sermons must be expositions of the Bible and its teachings, not expressions of the preachers opinions or the ideas of the age. We must settle for nothing less than what God has given.

The work of the Holy Spirit in personal experience cannot be disengaged from Scripture. The Spirit does not speak in ways that are independent of Scripture. Apart from Scripture we would never have known of God's grace in Christ. The biblical Word, rather than spiritual experience, is the test of truth.

Thesis One: Sola Scriptura

We reaffirm the inerrant Scripture to be the sole source of written divine revelation, which alone can bind the conscience. The Bible alone teaches all that is necessary for our salvation from sin and is the standard by which all Christian behavior must be measured. We deny that any creed, council or individual may bind a Christian's conscience, that the Holy Spirit speaks independently of or contrary to what is set forth in the Bible, or that personal spiritual experience can ever be a vehicle of revelation.

Solus Christus: The Erosion Of Christ-Centered Faith

As evangelical faith becomes secularized, its interests have been blurred with those of the culture. The result is a loss of absolute values, permissive individualism, and a substitution of wholeness for holiness, recovery for repentance, intuition for truth, feeling for belief, chance for providence, and immediate gratification for enduring hope. Christ and his cross have moved from the center of our vision.

Thesis Two: Solus Christus

We reaffirm that our salvation is accomplished by the mediatorial work of the historical Christ alone. His sinless life and substitutionary atonement alone are sufficient for our justification and reconciliation to the Father. We deny that the gospel is preached if Christ's substitutionary work is not declared and faith in Christ and his work is not solicited.

Sola Gratia: The Erosion Of The Gospel

Unwarranted confidence in human ability is a product of fallen human nature. This false confidence now fills the evangelical world; from the self-esteem gospel, to the health and wealth gospel, from those who have transformed the gospel into a product to be sold and sinners into consumers who want to buy, to others who treat Christian faith as being true simply because it works. This silences the doctrine of justification regardless of the official commitments of our churches.

God's grace in Christ is not merely necessary but is the sole efficient cause of salvation. We confess that human beings are born spiritually dead and are incapable even of cooperating with regenerating grace.

Thesis Three: Sola Gratia

We reaffirm that in salvation we are rescued from God's wrath by his grace alone. It is the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit that brings us to Christ by releasing us from our bondage to sin and raising us from spiritual death to spiritual life. We deny that salvation is in any sense a human work. Human methods, techniques or strategies by themselves cannot accomplish this transformation. Faith is not produced by our unregenerated human nature.

Sola Fide: The Erosion Of The Chief Article

Justification is by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone. This is the article by which the church stands or falls. Today this article is often ignored, distorted or sometimes even denied by leaders, scholars and pastors who claim to be evangelical. Although fallen human nature has always recoiled from recognizing its need for Christ's imputed righteousness, modernity greatly fuels the fires of this discontent with the biblical Gospel. We have allowed this discontent to dictate the nature of our ministry and what it is we are preaching.

Many in the church growth movement believe that sociological understanding of those in the pew is as important to the success of the gospel as is the biblical truth which is proclaimed. As a result, theological convictions are frequently divorced from the work of the ministry. The marketing orientation in many churches takes this even further, erasing the distinction between the biblical Word and the world, robbing Christ's cross of its offense, and reducing Christian faith to the principles and methods which bring success to secular corporations.

While the theology of the cross may be believed, these movements are actually emptying it of its meaning. There is no gospel except that of Christ's substitution in our place whereby God imputed to him our sin and imputed to us his righteousness. Because he bore our judgment, we now walk in his grace as those who are forever pardoned, accepted and adopted as God's children. There is no basis for our acceptance before God except in Christ's saving work, not in our patriotism, churchly devotion or moral decency. The gospel declares what God has done for us in Christ. It is not about what we can do to reach him.

Thesis Four: Sola Fide

We reaffirm that justification is by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone. In justification Christ's righteousness is imputed to us as the only possible satisfaction of God's perfect justice. We deny that justification rests on any merit to be found in us, or upon the grounds of an infusion of Christ's righteousness in us, or that an institution claiming to be a church that denies or condemns sola fide can be recognized as a legitimate church.

Soli Deo Gloria: The Erosion Of God-Centered Worship

Wherever in the church biblical authority has been lost, Christ has been displaced, the gospel has been distorted, or faith has been perverted, it has always been for one reason: our interests have displaced God's and we are doing his work in our way. The loss of God's centrality in the life of today's church is common and lamentable. It is this loss that allows us to transform worship into entertainment, gospel preaching into marketing, believing into technique, being good into feeling good about ourselves, and faithfulness into being successful. As a result, God, Christ and the Bible have come to mean too little to us and rest too inconsequentially upon us.

God does not exist to satisfy human ambitions, cravings, the appetite for consumption, or our own private spiritual interests. We must focus on God in our worship, rather than the satisfaction of our personal needs. God is sovereign in worship; we are not. Our concern must be for God's kingdom, not our own empires, popularity or success.

Thesis Five: Soli Deo Gloria

We reaffirm that because salvation is of God and has been accomplished by God, it is for God's glory and that we must glorify him always. We must live our entire lives before the face of God, under the authority of God and for his glory alone. We deny that we can properly glorify God if our worship is confused with entertainment, if we neglect either Law or Gospel in our preaching, or if self-improvement, self-esteem or self- fulfillment are allowed to become alternatives to the gospel.

Call To Repentance And Reformation

The faithfulness of the evangelical church in the past contrasts sharply with its unfaithfulness in the present. Earlier in this century, evangelical churches sustained a remarkable missionary endeavor, and built many religious institutions to serve the cause of biblical truth and Christ's kingdom. That was a time when Christian behavior and expectations were markedly different from those in the culture. Today they often are not. The evangelical world today is losing its biblical fidelity, moral compass and missionary zeal.

We repent of our worldliness. We have been influenced by the "gospels" of our secular culture, which are no gospels. We have weakened the church by our own lack of serious repentance, our blindness to the sins in ourselves which we see so clearly in others, and our inexcusable failure adequately to tell others about God's saving work in Jesus Christ.

We also earnestly call back erring professing evangelicals who have deviated from God's Word in the matters discussed in this Declaration. This includes those who declare that there is hope of eternal life apart from explicit faith in Jesus Christ, who claim that those who reject Christ in this life will be annihilated rather than endure the just judgment of God through eternal suffering, or who claim that evangelicals and Roman Catholics are one in Jesus Christ even where the biblical doctrine of justification is not believed.

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals asks all Christians to give consideration to implementing this Declaration in the church's worship, ministry, policies, life and evangelism. For Christ's sake. Amen.

ACE Council Members:

Dr. John ArmstrongRev. Alistair BeggDr. James M. BoiceDr. W. Robert GodfreyDr. John D. HannahDr. Michael S. HortonMrs. Rosemary JensenDr. R. Albert Mohler Jr.Dr. Robert M. NorrisDr. R. C. SproulDr. G. Edward VeithDr. David WellsDr. Luder WhitlockDr. J. A. O. Preus, III

RESISTING TEMPTATION..CONQUERING LUST

Resisting Temptation

1. Pray for protection. As in the Lord's Prayer, pray regularly "Lead us not into temptation" (Matthew 6:13).

2. Don't feel guilty. Temptation is not wrong, so don't condemn yourself for being tempted. Put your energy into fighting it. Self condemnation and doubt about who we are in Christ come from Satan.

3. Avoid exposure to temptation. Each of us has areas of life in which we are particularly vulnerable. Know yours, and stay off the premises! (Romans 13:14)

4. Think protectively. "Be self-controlled and alert," Peter writes. "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8).

5. Resist quickly. Don't play with temptation. "Do not give the devil a foothold" (Ephesians 4:27).

6. Conquer through Christ. You can get past temptation successfully with God's help. Our mediator Jesus Christ understands and the Holy Spirit is able. We need only ask. (Hebrews 2:18, 1Corinthians 10:13, Philippians 4:13)

The Consequences of Lust

Mental/Emotional: Shame and guilt accompany lustful behavior. At first, the lusting person is able to turn their thoughts "on and off"; however, this becomes progressively more difficult, until the lustful thoughts become an obsession. Though the thoughts initially bring pleasure, they eventually bring disgust and shame, and fear of exposure consumes the individual.

Physical: As individuals attempt to hide their lust, the attempt increases stress-related illnesses such as ulcers, colitis, and general muscular tension. The sexual arousal response becomes conditioned or connected with the object of lust. In the case of pornography, the initial sexual excitement drops unless there is an escalation to more shocking material.

Relational: Lust often leads to a self-consciousness which becomes a barrier to relationships. Salacious fantasy produces unrealistic and sometimes unattainable expectations about the physical appearance or sexual behavior of one's partner. Pornography degrades not only those individuals depicted, but all those they represent. It frays the bonds of mutual respect that are necessary to hold society together.

Spiritual: God has said that lust is a sin which builds a spiritual barrier. In gratifying our sinful nature, we turn from what God has planned for us and we seek fulfillment in the wrong place, finding spiritual emptiness. In this darkness we may begin to believe the lie that God can no longer love us.

Conquering Lustful Thinking

1. Pray. You need to pray specifically and often. Ask God to give you the purity of thinking that is characteristic of Christ. (Romans 8:5) Ask other Christians to pray for you and be accountable to them.

2. Avoid exposure. Breaking the power of any addiction requires breaking habit patterns. Minimize your exposure to the temptation. Avoid certain places, people, or programs, anything fraught with temptation. Choose wholesome alternatives.

3. Stop destructive thoughts. Since lust begins in the mind, say "stop" immediately, when an unwanted thought intrudes. You must choose to oppose the unwanted thought, moving it from thought to action. When you are alone, say it aloud; giving it extra strength because it goes through the sensory channels. Resist evil. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

4. Replace destructive thoughts. Think of anything else, whether neutral or constructive: count, recite a verse, sing a hymn, and count your blessings. Replace evil with good. (Romans 12:21)

5. Seek healing of memories. Everyone carries wounds from the past that remain unhealed. The healing process frequently requires repentance, forgiveness, restitution, sometimes face-to-face reconciliation, and always God's intervention. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

6. Seek God's new nature. Without a commitment to be God's person, the other strategies will fail. When the Holy Spirit controls us, He will produce holiness and self-control in our lives. We all have legitimate needs that need filling; God is able to do this in wholesome, life-giving ways. (Colossians 3:10)

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY "EVANGELICAL?

- a response by Dr. Leon Morris*

An evangelical is a gospel man, a gospel woman. "Evangelical" derives from 'evangel': "gospel". By definition an evangelical is someone concerned for the gospel. This means more than that he preaches the gospel now and then. It means that for him the gospel of Christ is central. It is, of course, his message and he preaches it, constantly. But it is more than a subject of preaching. The gospel is at the centre of his thinking and living.

The Apostle Paul reminded the Corinthians of the gospel he had brought them by saying that it is of the first importance that "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor.15:3). It seems to me that everything that matters to the evangelical arises from this basic proposition.

"Christ died." The cross is the great, basic act of God. "For our sins." That is the stubborn fact that made the cross necessary. It points to the truth that there is that in every member of the human race which makes for evil rather than for good. This has been caricatured as though evangelicals were saying that every member of the race is as bad as he can be. They are not. They are saying that none of us is perfect. None of us always does what deep in his heart of hearts he knows he ought to do. None of us measures up to God's standard.

This stops the evangelical from being swept off his feet by the promise of any earthly utopia. He will join as readily as the next in any scheme for the betterment of others. It is part of the outworking of the love he sees on the cross that he does so. These days we are realizing more of the importance of this part of our duty to our neighbor than we used to. That is all to the good. But the evangelical does not put his trust in human endeavors. He is a pessimist. He sees that dictatorships of the left and dictatorships of the right alike end up in oppression. He sees that democracies all too often end up in muddle and soulless bureaucracy. He will do his best to make any system work, but his trust is not in systems. Every system has to work on the raw material of sinners. The evangelical is clear-sighted about this. That man is a sinner puts a firm limit on his ability to do good.

And it puts an end to the possibility of his attaining the ultimate good. The fact that he is a sinner means that he cannot work out his eternal salvation. Sin leaves its mark on life here and has consequences for the hereafter.

But the great, wonderful truth is that "Christ died for our sins." What was impossible for men God in Christ has perfectly accomplished. He has defeated sin now and for eternity. The evangel is a message about a salvation with both temporal and eternal consequences.

Evangelicals insist with Scripture that the atonement is objective as well as subjective. It does have its effect on us, but its effect is not limited to our subjective experience. Whole books have been written on the atonement and they will doubtless continue to be written until Christ comes back. They help us understand a little of that great atoning act but none of them fully explains it. How can they? They are written by sinful people, people who are themselves immersed in the world's evil and are making their own contribution to it. They cannot stand outside it and see what needs to be done about it. But for the evangelical the significant thing is not our inability to explain it. The significant thing is that Christ died for our sins. Whatever needed to be done He has done. Nothing can be added to that perfect divine work.

For that reason the evangelical will find himself called upon to protest from time to time against systems which claim to be Christian but which do try to add to Christ's work, whether by calling on men to accomplish their salvation by their good deeds or by their liturgical observances or by anything else. Christ, no less than he Died, no less that. All our shabby shibboleths vanish before His sacrificial love.

Confronted with the cross I may respond and turn to Christ in faith and love. Or I may harden my heart. To respond to Christ's love is to become a different person. The whole set of the life is changed. Evangelicals have always insisted on the necessity for conversion. This may happen in one sudden, blinding experience (as with Saul of Tarsus). Or it may happen gradually (as with Timothy). The time is immaterial. The turning is everything. And it happens to all who come to Christ. The evangelical despairs of no one. The evangelical is an optimist.
It is easy to see the cross as a magnificent incentive to laziness. Christ has done everything. I can do nothing. Therefore I will do nothing. But that is not the way the New Testament sees it. John can write, "Herein is love, not that we love God (we will never understand love if we start from the human end), but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." Then he goes on, " Beloved, if God so loved us we ought to love one another, too" (1 Jn. 4:10-11). Notice John's verb. We ought, we 'owe it' to love one another. Love is not an occupation for somewhat soppy and sentimental citizens with a distaste for determined action. It is a demand made on all God's people as their response to His great love and it is love that overflows in activities for others as 1 Corinthians 13 makes clear for all time. Love is demanding. Christ did not die, as someone has put it, "for the flim-flam of respectable Christianity". Away with that kind of nonsense! Christ died for our sins, died to put them away so that we become loving people.

We of the human race know a love for attractive people, for beautiful people, for those who love us. Christ's love is for sinners (Rom. 5:8), a love which puts away sin and rebukes all our self centredness so that love becomes our mainspring. This means in the first instance that we love other believers. The evangelical sees the church, the beloved community, as an integral part of the purpose of God. And in the second instance it means loving those outside. It means being loving people, for we are the followers of Him who died for sinners. It means evangelism as we bring to sinners the best gift we have.

Evangelicals have sometimes been regarded as hard-liners, people without sympathy for those who deviate by a hairsbreadth from our respectable orthodoxy. Who can say that we are guiltless? "Envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness" are endemic in the human race and we have our share. Repentance for our past sins and a discovery of ways in which we can show that loving response which the New Testament sees as flowing from the cross is therefore an authentic part of evangelicalism.

But the cross speaks not only about love but about lowliness. Nowadays we are told that "small is beautiful". Put in these terms the thought is new. But its essence has always been part of evangelical religion. The cross condemns all self-seeking. How can anyone who has entered into the meaning of the cross seek great things for himself? The evangelical is a servant of God's people, a servant of the church, and a servant of the community of which is a part. He is one who has heard a call to take up his cross (Luke. 9:23). His life style is different because of what the cross means to him.

There is a further implication. The standard set before him is one he cannot reach. He knows that. But he knows too that on the Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came down on the infant church in the likeness of cleansing fire and powerful wind. "It was not yet 'spirit'", John wrote concerning Jesus' life, "because Jesus was not yet glorified" (Jn7:39). But when Jesus had accomplished His great work the Spirit came. The indwelling and empowering of the Spirit is an integral part of the Christian life as the evangelical understands it. He uses words like 'sanctification' and 'holiness' which speak of the need for a standard he can never reach for himself but which speak also of what the Spirit does in the believer.

"Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures." The reference to Scripture means that the death of Christ was in line with the will of the Father. A great divine purpose was worked out in the atonement, a purpose revealed in the Bible.

Evangelicals have always put a great emphasis on the place of the Bible. This has not been out of perverse dogmatism, but from a profound conviction that it is important to the Christian faith. Many religions in the world are religions of ideas. One could say that in those cases it is the ideas and not the people who originated them that matter. It could be said that it does not greatly matter whether Gautama Buddha or Muhammed ever lived. What matters is that there are certain great ideas associated with their names and that by those ideas millions of our fellow men live.

But this kind of reasoning does not apply to Christianity. It is true that Christianity has some great ideas and it does not matter greatly who originated them. But what Paul is telling us is something different. He is saying that something happened. Christ died. This is not simply an idea. It is a historical fact. The gospel message is that once God came into history in the person of Jesus Christ. He came to live a life of lowly service and to die on Calvary's cross "for our sins".

Christianity is a historical religion in a way that no other religion is. Unless we have access to the facts we are cut off from our roots. And our access is by way of "the Scriptures". They are the means God has given us to bring us the gospel. So evangelicals have always thankfully received this good gift of God and have regarded it as of the utmost importance that we have a Bible on which we can rely. They point to the express teaching of our Lord himself and to that of the apostles. And they point to the necessity for the facts of the gospel to be reliably attested.

There are other things that evangelicals hold. I am not giving an exhaustive list of evangelical convictions. I am saying that they all stem from the evangel. The whole system of the evangelical is the outworking of the gospel. With whatever blunderings and mistakes the evangelical tries to unfold the implications of salvation through the cross and to live by them. The evangelical man or woman is, above all else, a product, and a bearer of the gospel.

Reprinted with permission from "Working Together", the magazine of the Australian Evangelical Alliance, 1998 Issue 4.

*Rev. Dr. Leon Morris was a founding member and former Chairman of the Evangelical Alliance of Victoria. A former principal of Ridley College, Melbourne, he is an internationally renowned New Testament scholar, and has had a very fruitful ministry worldwide, as a speaker, theologian, and author of fifty one books, of which nearly two million copies are in circulation.

WHAT IS A BAPTIST?

Often people choose the church they attend on the basis of the friendliness of the people, the church or type of church their families have attended, or even the appearance of the church building. More important than all of these things, though, ought to be the beliefs that the local church holds as central to their belief, preaching, and practice.

Historically, Baptists find their origins in the Free (Anabaptist) Churches. These churches existed from the time of the apostles. Even though the name "Baptist" was not used until the 1600's, the Baptist Distinctives were practiced by small, persecuted groups during the Dark Ages and the Reformation. Biblical faith and practice forced these to separate from two powerful traditional groups: the Roman Catholic Church, and the Protestant Churches. (During the Protestant Reformation, these formerly Catholic churches tried to return to a more Biblical pattern. They still rejected most of the Baptist Distinctives.) For this reason, Bible-centered Baptist Churches are not Protestant churches. They existed long before the Reformation.

Beliefs are not worth much unless they are translated into actions. Based on what the Bible teaches, we feel very strongly about the below principles, called the Baptist Distinctives:

B
Biblical Authority The Bible is our only authority for faith and pratice. No insight, testimony, or decree of man, regardless of his piety or position, can ever supersede the Bible. This distinctive is the primary Baptist distinctive. All others spring from this absolute trust in the Scriptures. Read: 2 Timothy 3:16

A
Autonomy of the Local Church Each local assembly is self-governing without any outside hierarchy of conventions. The local church is an independent body accountable to no one but our Lord. There is no person or organization on earth that can dictate what a local church can or should do. This does not prevent voluntary cooperation with other churches as long as such activity does not violate the church's independence or affiliate the church with false teaching.
Read: Acts 15; Matthew 18:15-17

P
Priesthood of the Believer Each believer is privileged to come to God individually without human or saintly intervention. Every believer today is a priest and may enter the presence of God directly through only one Mediator, our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ. There is no other human mediator. Along with the privilege of priesthood, there is the responsibility as priests to live a life separated from sin and devoted to God. Read: Hebrews 4:14-16; 1 Peter 2:9

T
Two Ordinances Two commands issued and instituted by Christ to His Church to be obeyed are Believers' Baptism and the Lord's Table. An "ordinance" is a picture of saving truth, as opposed to a "sacrament" which is proposed to be a means of receiving divine grace. We practice only believer's baptism by immersion. This contradicts two practices common among Roman Catholic and Protestant churches: infant baptism and sprinkling (pouring). Immersion is the only acceptable mode for baptism because it alone preserves the picture of saving truth. No other form pictures the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. The Lord's Table (also called The Lord's Supper or communion) is a symbolic ordinance, picturing Christ's body broken for our sins and His blood shed for our redemption. It helps us remember His death, and inspires us while looking forward to His coming. Read: Acts 8:36; Romans 6:1-5; 1 Corinthians 11:23, 24; 2 Corinthians 11:23-26

I
Individual Soul Liberty Every person has the right to worship God according to his conscience without coercion. Read: Romans 14:4, 5

S
Saved Church Membership Church membership is open to all who have exhibited repentance toward God and exercised faith in Christ. Membership is strictly a matter of obedience; it bestows no grace. Read: Acts 2:44, 47

T
Two Offices The Lord has established two offices, Pastor and Deacon, to minister to His flock. There is no additional hierarchy of offices. Pastors are also called bishops, overseers, or elders in the New Testament. Deacons are given to help the pastor in the daily administration and decision making of the church. Read: 1 Timothy 3:1-13

S
Separation of Church and State The Lord has established the State to administer civil, secular government and the Church to minister the man's spiritual needs. The two are separate entities never to be intertwined. Read: Matthew 22:21; Acts 4:29

Even though the name "Baptist" has been misused by many, we retain the name because the historic Baptist position best describes our position in matters of doctrine, faith, and practice. We share similar positions with other groups who base their beliefs completely on Bible teaching, even though they may not choose the "Baptist" name. Still, the name is meant to clearly identify us with these distinctives.

POTTER & CLAY

The analogy of the potter and the clay are used several times in the Bible (Isaiah 64:8, Jeremiah 18:1-10, etc.). I came across one interesting story on this matter…

There was a visitor to a famous potter and as he stood there he watched something he really didn't understand. This famous potter was beating a lump of clay with his wooden mallet. Just pounding the daylights out of it. The visitor thought, "What is going on here? You don't beat clay! You mold it and make it." And here he was beating the clay so he asked the potter, "Why are you doing this?" And the potter said, "Wait and see. It won't be long and you'll find out." And so, the man stood there. Eventually the pounding stopped, the lump of clay was placed there on the table. He stood there and looked at it, and finally he saw the top of it start to just quiver a little bit and he looked and lo and behold, he could see little lumps forming on the top of the clay. "What are those?" And the potter said, "Those are air bubbles coming out. I have to get all the air out of that clay, otherwise those air bubble will cause that pot to crack, and you don't want to be a crack-pot. It will mar the pot. It will destroy the pot."

WHY DOES GOD ALLOW SUFFERING?

WHY SUFFERING…

There are many reasons why God allows suffering. The following webpages also discuss the issue of suffering and God:

§ Why Would a Good God Allow Suffering?http://www.rbc.org/ds/q0106/ ,
§ 10 Reasons To Believe in A God Who Allows Suffering http://www.rbc.org/rtb/4rsn/.

In my own personal experiences and study, I have seen many reasons why God’s children suffer. Here are some of the reasons why:

1. The testimony of Paul…

“7To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

Apparently the Apostle Paul had, on top of the suffering he endured at the hands of persecutors within and without the church, he also had his own personal struggle - an affliction that is not clearly specified. Perhaps some form of sickness, but the point here is that in our weakness, we learn to depend on an all-powerful God. There are many times in my life when I convinced myself and others that all I needed to go on was a strong willpower, guts, determination and well, connections. I sought what I considered to be right before me, never mind the consequences. God has allowed me to suffer in order to effect a paradigm shift : to put me in a situation where all the things, resources and abilities I thought I could depend on failed me, so I would call on Him.

I’ve been studying the life of Paul, who begun his career as a Pharisee and an active persecutor of the church (Acts 9:1). He was present when Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was stoned (Acts 8). I’ve seen his life turn around. He would later go on to suffer much for the sake of Christ (Acts 9:16):

“23Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. 27I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 29Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? 30If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness”. (2 Corinthians 11:23-30)

“7But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body… 16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (1 Corinthians 4:7-12, 16:18)

Consider those passages. Light and momentary troubles? I don’t think so, but in contrast with 1.) what Christ has done, 2.) what Christ is doing in the life of Paul, and 3.) the reward that awaits him, Paul can confidently state it in such a manner. Elsewhere, he states:

“17Now if we are children, then we are heirs–heirs of God and coheirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. 18I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us”. (Romans 8:17-18)

Based on the above texts, I learned that:

§ Suffering teaches me to be God-reliant, not self-reliant
§ Suffering keeps me from being proud of myself
§ Suffering teaches me to trust in God’s power
§ Suffering makes me focus on what is unseen and eternal and not on

what is seen and temporary
§ Suffering allows me to share in Christ’s glory

2. The testimony of Peter…

“21To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 22“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”[e] 23When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:21-24)

“ 12Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

To follow Christ is to march to the beat of a different drum, to obey a different Master, and to earn the enmity of the world, the flesh or the sinful nature, and the devil. Christianity, while still in this world, is no rose garden. Suffering is not incidental: in fact, it is expected!

“6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (1 Peter 1:6-7)

Based on the above texts, and also some study about Peter, I learned that:

§ Suffering refines my faith
§ Suffering is following Christ’s example
§ Suffering is participating in Christ’s suffering
§ Suffering keeps my focus on the future and to keep me from being

enamored by the present
§ Suffering keeps me from complacency

3. The Book of Hebrews…

“7Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:7-11)

Suffering can be for disciplinary reasons. We can be chastised when we do wrong, and in the process, we learn. We become better persons if we allow ourselves to learn from discipline. It, in the end, makes us better, more useful, and more prudent persons.

Based on the above texts, I learned that:

§ Suffering can be a form of god’s discipline for sin in one’s life
§ Suffering molds character in a person, particularly holiness
§ Suffering is a sign of being a child of God

4. The testimony of James…

“2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4).

Based on the above texts, I learned that:

§ Suffering can be testing the quality of one’s faith
§ Suffering develops perseverance
§ Learning perseverance from suffering leads to spiritual maturity

5. The testimony of Job…

The Bible is replete with stories about suffering, and none is more painful than the story of Job. He was a “blameless and upright man” (Job 1:8) Under the testing of Satan, Job lost everything: wealth, children, status – he lost everything except his false friends, who accused him of unconfessed sin and disobedience, and a nagging wife, who encouraged him to “Curse God and die” (Job 2:9). Under severe testing, he praised God and remained faithful. Later, he was restored by God and even more richly blessed than before (Job 42:12).

Based on his story, I learned that:

§ We cannot be tested without God’s approval
§ We glorify God when we patiently endure suffering
§ Suffering has an END
§ We reveal our true character when stripped of everything material that

we hold dear - when we have no money, no friends, no home, no health,

when we are stripped of the superficial trappings that we think define

our existence or our selves, we come closest to seeing ourselves

objectively – THAT WE ARE NOTHING WITHOUT GOD!

CONCLUSION

Suffering can be brought about by different reasons, depending on the context or circumstances…it can be a consequence of sin, a process of undergoing discipline, to refine character, exercise faith in God, a test, a reminder not to put too much confidence in oneself or in material things…

For me, suffering has broken my much-vaunted pride, that bastion of self that I’ve held on to when everything else was crumbling…It has shown me how little, how insignificant, in fact, how pathetic I am…

It has led me to Jesus Christ…I would not cry out to Him until I reached rock-bottom, and so in His love, He let me sink so low. They say when you’re at the pits, there’s nowhere to look but up…

He humbled me, yes I would say that He broke me. God allowed me to suffer so I would call on Him, and run to Him. He brought me to the brink of despair so I would see the greatness of His redemption.

Until I realized my helplessness, and my need for Him, He let me wallow a bit, until I literally was brought down on my knees, crying out to Him.

I did think that perhaps god was simply being sadistic – a sort of monstrous ego trip or a kid playing with an ant farm. Or perhaps he was being vindictive for all the times I was deliberately disobedient. Only later did I appreciate why God allowed me to suffer: it was because HE LOVED ME.

I am not enjoying “the good life.” I don’t have a lot of so-called determinants of success. I’m still in the furnace, but I now understand why: I am still “under construction.”

POWER FOR CHRISTIAN LIVING

Every Christian is to grow spiritually. The following POWER acrostic will help you to remember the essential elements to spiritual progress.

Pray. The Christian who wants to grow, communicates with God through prayer. He expresses his gratitude to Him, confesses his sins, and comes to Him with his requests for himself and for others. God promises to be near to all who come to Him in prayer (Ps. 145:18).

Obey. In John 14, Jesus said that our obedience to His commands is an indicator of our love for Him (vv.15,21,23). We can’t do it in our own strength, however. That’s one of the reasons He gave us the Holy Spirit (vv.16-17). As we yield to Him, the Spirit provides the power to walk in obedience (Gal. 5:16-25).

Worship. A Christian’s devotion to God is to be continuous. Privately, he should worship God in his thoughts and prayers (Ps. 34:1). Publicly, he should unite with fellow believers in a local assembly to bring praise to God (Ps. 111:1; Heb. 10:24-25).

Evangelize. The good news of the gospel is to be shared. As we tell others what Christ has done for us, we will find ourselves growing by spiritual leaps and bounds (Mt. 28:19-20).

Read. The most direct source of a Christian’s spiritual growth is the Bible. It must be read regularly because it is his milk and strong meat (1 Pet. 2:2; Heb. 5:12-14). It tells us how to live (Ps. 119:105). It is God’s word to us today.

WHEN GOD RAN

When God Ran by Benny Hester

Mighty God
The great I Am
Immovable Rock Omnipotent powerful,
awesome Lord Victorious Warrior
Commanding King of Kings
Mighty Conqueror

And the only time The only time I ever saw Him run...
Was when He ran to me
Took me in His arms,
Held my head to His chest, Said,
My son's come home again
Looked in my face Wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice
He said, Son, Do you know I still love you?
He caught me my surprise
When God ran

The day I left home
I knew I'd broken His heart
I wondered if Things could ever be the same
Then one night...
I remembered His love for me
And down that dusty road Ahead I could see...
It's the only time
The only time I ever saw Him run

When He ran to me
Took me in His arms,
Held my head to His chest,
Said, My son's come home again
Looked in my face
Wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice
He said, Son, Do you know I still love you?

He caught me my surprise
He brought me to my knees
When God ran

I saw Him run to me... And then I ran to Him

Holy One
Righteous Judge
He turned my way
Now I know He's been waiting for this day

And then He ran to me
Took me in His arms,
Held my head to His chest,
Said, My son's come home again
Looked in my face
Wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice I felt His love for me again

He ran to me
Took me in His arms,
Held my head to His chest,
Said, My son's come home again
Looked in my face
Wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice
He said, Son He said, Son My Son, Do you know I still love you?
Ohhh,
He ran to me
When God ran

HYMN

Hymn Lyrics
by Jars Of Clay

Oh refuge of my hardened heart
Oh fast pursuing lover come
As angels dance 'round Your throne
My life by captured fare You own
Not silhouette of trodden faith
Nor death shall not my steps be guide
I'll pirouette upon mine grave
For in Your path I'll run and hide

[Chorus:]
Oh gaze of love so melt my pride
That I may in Your house but kneel
And in my brokenness to cry
Spring worship unto Thee

When beauty breaks the spell of pain
The bludgeoned heart shall burst in vain
But not when love be pointed king
And truth shall Thee forever reign

[Chorus]

Sweet Jesus carry me away
From cold of night, and dust of day
In ragged hour or salt worn eye
Be my desire, my well sprung lye

[Chorus x 2]

Spring worship unto Thee
Spring worship unto Thee

THE GOSPEL : A SIMPLE EXPLANATION

Ironically, the first news is bad news. This understanding is part of understanding the need that exists and is thereby addressed by the Gospel. There is a solution, but for what? We must first understand the problem we are in:

1. You Are A Sinner

The first fact that you need to realize in life is that you are a natural-born sinner, a natural transgressor against God:

"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23.

"As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one." Romans 3:10.

"Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." Psalm 51:5.

Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, FOR THAT ALL HAVE SINNED: (Romans 5:12)If we say that we have not sinned, WE MAKE HIM A LIAR, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:10)

Most people have the false idea that we all LEARN to be sinners as we grow older and are influenced by evil, but this isn't true. God's word declares that we are all sinners by nature. We are all transgressors against God.

We are, from the moment of Adam’s fall, a rebellious and sinful race, a fallen race, separate from God, who alone is holy.

2. You Are Going To Die

Death isn't a very popular subject, but it is certainly a very REAL subject. Sooner or later, your heart will beat for the last time, your loved ones will mourn over your passing, and your body will be laid to rest in a grave. It's a fact of life. People die, and the Bible tells us WHY:

"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Romans 5:12.

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23.

Why do people die? People die because people are SINNERS. Do you remember the story of Adam and

Eve in the garden of Eden? It wasn't until AFTER they had sinned that they were subject unto death.

God told them in Genesis 2:17 that they would "die" when they ate of the forbidden fruit. Before man had sinned, he was ABOVE death, not subject unto it. Today, however, we are all sinners, because we have all inherited our sin nature from Adam. We must all die, just as Adam died (Genesis 5:5).

3. You Will Be Judged

God is the All-powerful Creator, the Supreme Commander of the Universe. He is in complete control of all people, places, and things, so no one should think it unreasonable that God intends to judge all men. We must all give account to our Maker.

"For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Ecclesiastes 12:14.

"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." Hebrews 9:27.

It may be a terrifying thought, but it is still the truth: YOU will stand before God and you will be judged by Him. Every sin that you have ever committed will be revealed--EVERY SECRET SIN! You may have managed to hide many things from your fellow man, but you have hid NOTHING from God. He knows all things, and He will hold you accountable. You WILL be judged.

4. You Can't Save Yourself

When God judges this world, millions upon millions of people are going to be absolutely SHOCKED to find out that NO ONE--ABSOLUTELY NO ONE--was able to earn their way into Heaven. People have the false idea that they'll be permitted to enter Heaven as long as they "do more good works than bad." The word of God tells us just the opposite:

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

"But to him that works not, but believes on him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Romans 4:5.

We can never meet up to God’s standards by our own efforts:

"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." Isaiah 64:6.

The "good works" that you do are only good in YOUR eyes. In God's sight, you are a hopeless sinner, and your works are totally unacceptable. If you are counting on your own righteousness to save you, then you are setting yourself up for a very big disappointment. "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth." Romans 10:3-4.

The Bible clearly states that we are all cursed with sin, and that we are all totally incapable of earning our salvation by our own righteousness. Friend, unless your SINS are removed, God will NOT accept you. You are hopeless.

5. Your Only Hope Is The Lord Jesus Christ

When you are ready to accept the fact that you are a lost and dying sinner and that your "good works" are unacceptable to God, then you can begin to see your need for Jesus Christ. He came into this world to lay down His sinless life for YOU--to pay for your sins, because you couldn't. Jesus is your only hope for salvation. Only by receiving Him as your Savior can you enter the gates of Heaven. There is no other way.

"Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father but by me." John 14:6.

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12.

Notice these important words from Romans 5:8-10:

"But God shows his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!"

He loves you and wants you to know it. He was mocked and tortured for you. He suffered on the cross for you. He died for you. He underwent all these because of His love.
Jesus PAID your way to Heaven for you:

To cover the sin of Adam and Eve, THE BLOOD of an innocent lamb was shed. (Gen. 3:21)

" . . . John saw Jesus coming unto him, and said: Behold THE LAMB of God, which TAKES AWAY THE SIN of the world." (John 1:29)

Jesus Christ shed His blood on the cross to pay the penalty for YOUR sin!

"Who his own self bare OUR SINS in his own body on the tree,. . ." (1 Peter 2:24)" . . . Unto him that loved us, and washed us from OUR SINS in his own BLOOD," (Revelation 1:5b)

By receiving Him as your Savior, you can be WASHED from all your sins in His precious Blood (Rev. 1:5; Col. 1:14; Acts 20:28; I Pet. 1:18-19).

By receiving Him as your Savior, you will be receiving God's ONLY means of Salvation for you.

BORN AGAIN???

In John 3:3, Jesus said that: “unless a man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

He also said in the same conversation the following words:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son and that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16)

The whole essence of the term “born again” or “born of above” is what it literally means: being reborn! A born-again person is a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17) He or she is indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Romans 7:6, 8:9-17). We, who were born into the fallen family of Adam and therefore to sin, are now reborn into the family of Christ. It also means having a relationship with Christ, and of being declared as sons (and daughters) of God (John 1:12).

Are you willing to forsake YOUR righteousness and receive Jesus Christ as your Savior, your ONLY HOPE for Salvation?

Romans 10:13 says, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Romans 10:9 says, "That if you shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved."

Salvation, while being the most precious thing a person could receive, is ironically a free gift. It is not something that you can earn, that you can work on and receive in return. It cannot be earned by good works, by church going, by baptism, by religion, by penance…in fact, it is a GIFT, and as a gift, it is by definition FREE. It is given in LOVE, extended by GRACE, and received through FAITH (John 3:15-18, Acts 16:31, Ephesians 2:8-9, Galatians 2:1, 3:18, 24, 5:5, Romans 1:17, 3:20-28, 4:4-5, 5:1-2, 6:23, 10:8-13, Titus 3:5)

Of course, a GIFT must be RECEIVED in order for it to be YOURS.

The gift of God’s salvation is received by faith. As Acts 16:31 puts it “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved…” Believe here is not simply mental assent much deeper: it is an act of faith, an act of total trust, of acceptance.

(Friend, remember, though, that while the GIFT is FREE, it is NOT CHEAP. It was bought by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. It is only free because HE BOUGHT IT FOR YOU.)

Let us look at Romans 5:6-8. It says:

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Now try to see how this verses apply to you personally. Rephrase it as follows:

“You see, at just the right time, when ____(place your name)___ (was) still powerless, Christ died for ____(place your name)___. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for ____(place your name)___ in this: While ____(place your name)___ was still sinners, Christ died for ____(place your name)___.

Rephrase John 3:16, but and make it personal:

“For God so loved ____(place your name)___ that he gave his only begotten Son and that (if) ______(place your name)____ believes in him ___(he/she)___shall not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16)

Is this how you see it? Do you see that God loves you? Consider the implications of these.

Do you recognize your inability to save yourself? Do you believe that Jesus died on the cross for you? In fact, if YOU WERE THE ONLY PERSON IN THE WORLD, CHRIST WOULD STILL DIE FOR YOU. THAT’S HOW MUCH HE LOVES YOU.

Do you accept this? Will you receive Christ as your Savior?

If you do, you may want to tell Jesus. Express it to Him in prayer. You may consider the following suggested prayer:“Lord Jesus, I acknowledge that I am a sinner unable to save myself. I have nothing good in me, only my sin. I thank you because You love me nonetheless, and because of this, You died on the cross to take away my sin. Thank you for washing away my sin with your blood. Thank you for your promise of forgiveness. I place my full trust, my and confidence in You and by faith I now receive you as my Savior. Amen.”

RELIGION OR CHRIST?

Religion is something to believe and do:

Attending religious services
Enrolling children in religious schools
Showing acts of kindness
Avoiding immorality
Believing in God
Having religious affiliation
Being baptized
Receiving communion
Studying doctrine
Reading the Scriptures
Offering prayers.
Celebrating religious events
Teaching religious classes
Giving aid to the poor

Christ is Someone to know and trust:

Someone who is very near
Someone who has authority to help us
Someone who can forgive us
Someone who can declare us righteous
Someone who can set us apart for God
Someone who can bring God to us
Someone who can bring us to God
Someone who can include us in His will
Someone who can guide us
Someone who can teach us
Someone who can be our example
Someone who never leaves us all alone
Someone who can be trusted
Someone who can defend us
Someone who can intercede for us
Someone who can enable us
Someone who can respond to our emotions
Someone who can feel our pain
Someone who can give us joy
Someone who can give us peace
Someone who can give us hope
Someone who can give us love
Someone who has proven His love for us
Someone who has died for us
Someone who rose from the dead for us
Someone who can live His life through us
Someone who can take us all the way Home Someone who can assure us of heaven


WHY IT MAKES SENSE TO KEEP OUR FOCUS ON CHRIST
In exchange for our trust in Him, Christ does many things for us that religion cannot do. For example:
· He loves us (John 15:13; Rom. 8:35).
· He brings us to God (1 Tim. 2:5).
· He brings God to us (Col. 1:15).
· He bought us for God (Eph. 1:7).
· He defends us before God (1 John 2:1).
· He declares us "not guilty" (Rom. 3:24; 5:1).
· He reconciles us to God (2 Cor. 5:19).
· He sets us apart for God (1 Cor. 1:30).
· He gives us peace with God (Rom. 5:1).
· He makes us acceptable to God (Eph. 1:6).
· He forgives us (Eph. 1:7).
· He frees us from bondage (Rom. 8;2).
· He qualifies us for adoption (Eph. 1:5).
· He makes us heirs of God (Eph. 1:11).
· He gives us His Spirit (John 14:16-17).
· He gives us a new focus (Col. 3:1-2).
· He lives within us (Col. 1:27).
· He brings us into God's family (John 1:12).
· He intercedes for us (Rom. 8:34).
· He rescues us from Satan's power (Col. 1:13).
· He places us into God's kingdom (Col. 1:13).
· He gives us eternal life (Rom. 6:23).
· He shows us how to live (1 John 2:6).

A STUDY IN CONTRASTS

There are two sides to many issues in Scripture. This is true of the subject of religion. In order to keep a balanced view, it is important for us to live with the tension that holds two seemingly contradictory ideas in place.

Religion is important. The Bible is full of religious practices that either (1) point us to God or (2) provide a channel for expressing our relationship to God. Both Old and New Testaments are full of religious law, principle, belief, and ritual. If we think of religion as action or conduct indicating belief in, reverence for, and a desire to please God, then it is clear that this religion provides:

· a pattern of doctrine and belief (Titus 2:1)
· shared experience (Acts 2:37-47; Heb. 10:25).
· outward show of inner faith (1 John 3:17-18).

Religion is worthless. It is worthless if we depend on any external actions to make us right with God. Whether before salvation or after, no amount of religious knowledge or action can save us. Knowledge or action can only give us a way of expressing our personal faith in Christ. In that sense we must avoid:

· attempts to earn salvation (Eph. 2:8-10).
· any thought of perfecting ourselves (Gal. 3:1-3).
· anything that displaces Christ (Col. 2:6-8).

Religion is dangerous, not because it is bad but because it is often good enough to turn our trust away from Christ. Our tendency is to reject confidence in what Christ can do and replace it with something that we can do for ourselves.

THE TEST OF OUR RELIGION

Imagine that you are making application for heaven. What would you list as your qualifications?

· I have always believed in God.
· I'm thought of as a religious person.
· I have tried to live a good life.
· I have been baptized.
· I go to church.
· I haven't done anything really bad.
· I have friends who will vouch for me.

I hope by now you realize that if you were to list any of those qualifications on an application for heaven, it would indicate that you don't yet understand the worthlessness of religion.

The only application that would be accepted by heaven would be one on which you listed your qualifications as follows:

· I can cite no merit of my own.
· I have been a sinner from birth.
· I am coming not in my name but in Christ's.
· I believe He is the Son of God and my Savior.
· I have accepted His sacrifice for my sins.
· I believe He rose from the dead.
· I have put my trust in Him to save me.

(from a tract of the same name. RBC Ministries)

INTIMACY WITH GOD

(from the Man In The Mirror)

Jim asked, "Why is it that the only time I'm on my knees is when I'm in a crisis? Why don't I have intimacy with God when things are going well?"

The Psalmist wrote, "As the deep pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God" (Psalm 42:1-2). Is that the way you feel, or would like to?

In this article I'd like us to explore how can you find, or restore, intimacy with God. But first things first. What exactly is intimacy with God?

Let's consider an analogy from marriage. Both new and mature love help us understand intimacy better. When you were dating your wife (if you're married), do you remember how everything she said fascinated you? You shared each other's hopes and dreams for challenging careers, successful healthy children, and a vibrant spiritual and social life. In short, you couldn't get enough of each other. You wanted to know everything about her.

Twenty five years later the nature of your love for her changed (or will change when you get there). Now you have experienced, and survived, a half dozen major tests. You think each other's thoughts. You finish each other's sentences . . . or a half-finished sentence is understood.

Intimacy with God is like intimacy with your mate. It's wanting to know Him at the deepest level. It's wanting to be fully known and accepted for who you are. Intimacy with God means a full, fresh, moment by moment dependency upon His grace and mercy. And it grows deeper with time.

That's a tall order! But you can get there from here. Here's a formula that seems to help deepen all relationships-Appointment, Relationship, Trust, Task. Here's how it works. When I saw Patsy, now my wife, walking down the street the first time I thought, Now there goes the woman with whom I would like to spend the rest of my life! But I didn't walk over to her and say, "Hi Patsy, how are you doing? Would you like to get married?" No, I said, "Would you like to go out Friday night?" I asked for the Appointment. She said no, but that's a story for another time.

Eventually, though, she did go out with me and we hit it off. A Relationship began to develop as we spent time together and got to know each other.

Eventually, as we shared out of the depths of our hearts and souls, we began to Trust each other. Then, when Trust came to full bloom, I popped the question, asked her to marry me, and we did the Task-we married. But it took some time.

Intimacy with God develops like intimacy in marriage. It's exciting at first, but takes some time to deepen. As we move through these four steps with God-Appointment, Relationship, Trust, Task-we will be rewarded with a deep, profound sense of intimacy with Him. We will find that we increasingly know God, love God, trust God, obey God, and serve God. Let's take a closer look at how to build or renew intimacy by pursuing these five characteristics-Know God, Love God, Trust God, Obey God, and Serve God.

KNOW GOD

We get to know God by setting the Appointment. It takes time, though. We know God through His Works, His Word, His "Whisper", and Witnesses. God's Works in creation - sometimes called general revelation - are windows through which we peer and see clues about God's nature. For example, gaze into a star studded evening sky, watch a mother duck with her ducklings, ponder the rhythms of the tides.

God's Word - sometimes called special revelation- tells us what we can know in no other way: the history of redemption and the character of God and His attributes. The "Whisper" of the Holy Spirit is God speaking to our hearts, especially when we pray or read the Bible. Martin Luther once said, "I have so much to do today I think I'll need to pray for three hours." Also, men need Witnesses. A lot of men today - good men - slip into a jaded, cynical outlook. They need fellowship with other Christians who can testify to the life-altering power of Christ in their lives.

LOVE GOD

The more we know God, the more we love Him - that's Relationship. When Jesus was asked, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" he answered, "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength'" (Mark 12:28-30).

To love God with "all" is to love Him with the totality of our being, every ounce of our energy, and the sum of our strength. We are to bring an intensity to loving God. Saint Augustine saw this so foundational that he said, "Love God and do what you want." He knew that the actions of a man who truly loves God seeks to do His will.

TRUST GOD

The more experience we have with the Lord the more we realize, "You can trust God." I've had a dozen major struggles in which, if God had failed me, I would have been history. You've had yours. The beauty of walking with God a good while is that you build "experience" with Him. In fact, you can come to a level of Trust that, even when you see no way out of a gut-wrenching trial, you know from experience you can depend upon Him. The apostle Paul put it this way: "[I am] confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6).

OBEY GOD

When knowing, loving, and trusting God have become deeply etched in our own character, obedience to God-one type of Task-will be our natural (or perhaps super-natural) response. Jesus put it simply: "If you love me, you will obey what I command" (John 14:15). Daryl said, "My faith is simple. I read it in the Bible, then I do it. I don't ask questions." That's because after getting to know, love, and trust God, Daryl has surrendered his life to the pleasure of God.

The key to obedience is to embrace "the authority of the Scriptures." As one of our Board members says, "It's either true or it isn't, and you either believe or you don't." If the Bible is God's Word, then our obedience must follow.

The Bible commands us to repent, be holy, keep the Sabbath holy, tithe, don't commit adultery, and a host of other clear commands that Christians today spend countless hours debating and rationalizing. But the fruit of intimacy with God is a simple obedience motivated by gratitude for God's grace. From my own experience, I know that obedience as a grateful response to knowing, loving, and trusting God is far superior to obedience as duty. If you cannot yet be grateful then by all means-do your duty, but gratitude is better.

SERVE GOD

Intimacy with God cries out for an opportunity to express its appreciation in service-a second type of Task. The more I grow to love my wife, Patsy, the more I want to serve and please her in every way. I just can't get enough of serving her (and, of course, I always obey). What could be more natural than serving the one you know, love, and trust?

In fact, God has made us with an innate need to serve the one we love. "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10). Jesus said, "This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples" (John 15:8).

CONCLUSION

Does your soul thirst for God? Why not give yourself increasingly and progressively to these five ideas. Start by setting the Appointment and get to know God. Then, build the Relationship and deepen your love for God. Let Trust come to full bloom through daily dependence. Then, in grateful response to your new or renewed sense of intimacy with God, obey and serve God (your Task) out of the overflow of a vibrant relationship with the living Lord.

Reflect on the questions to help you cement these ideas in your mind:

1. Describe the time in your life when you felt closest to God.
2. What one word or phrase best describes how close or distant you feel to God today, and explain.
3. What does the Bible tell us about loving God in Mark 12:28-31 and Luke 10:25-28.
4. Saint Augustine said, "Love God and do what you want." Is that good theology? Explain your answer.
5. What is the single most important thing you can do right now to have a more intimate relationship with God? Do you think you will actually do it, and why or why not?

The Five Defining Disciplines of Growing Men

(From Patrick Morley)

No man ever fails on purpose. No man wakes up in the morning and thinks, "Well, I guess I'll see what I can do to mess up my life today." Yet, every day we do see men fail morally, financially, relationally, and spiritually.

How can a man keep his life on the right track?

Five Goals: The Bible says. . .

• Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is his good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:2)

• We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Our ministry has adopted five spiritual goals we want to encourage every man to build into his life to help
him be 'fully committed to the Lord.' None of these is a requirement to be a Christian. A man doesn't do these
five 'disciplines' to gain the cross. Rather, because a man has the cross he willingly, even enthusiastically,
performs these five disciplines to walk more closely with Christ to make Him Lord to keep himself on track.

1. Consistent Devotional/Quiet Time (Mat 14:23; Jos 1:8)

Bill said, "I'm drifting." He was asked, "Are you doing daily devotions?" He replied, "No, I've just been so busy lately." Nothing else will keep a man close to God like a time of consistent private devotions.

If you don't already have a consistent quiet time, set aside five minutes daily to read a chapter in the Bible and say a prayer. Start by reading a chapter in the New Testament. Underline passages that capture your attention. Memorize passages for strength, courage, and faith.

Next, use the acronym "ACTS" to help you pray.

'A' is for adoration. Worship God for His attributes His holiness, power, majesty, beauty, kindness, mercy, and goodness.

'C' is for confession. Confess and ask God to forgive all known sin keep 'short accounts' with God.

'T' is for thanksgiving. Express gratitude to God for His blessings and mercies especially things we ordinarily take for granted like a good night's rest, daily provision, health, family, and so on.

'S' is for supplication. Nothing is too big or insignificant to bring to God in prayer.

Lorne Sanny, former President of the Navigators, suggests we pray backwards through yesterday step by step, and forward through today. Praying backwards will lead to prayers of thanksgiving and confession, while praying forward will lead to prayers of supplication.

2. Organized Bible Study (Prov. 4:23, 2 Tim. 2:15-17)

Someone once asked Billy Graham, "If you were a pastor of a large church in a principle city, what would be your plan of action?"

I would have imagined that Mr. Graham would outline a mass evangelistic plan to take the city by storm. Instead, in The Master Plan of Evangelism, it is reported that he answered, "One of the first things I would do would be to get a small group of eight or ten or twelve men around me that would meet a few hours a week and pay the price! It would cost them something in time and effort. I would share with them everything I have, over a period of years. Then I would actually have twelve ministers … who in turn could take eight or ten or twelve more and teach them." Not a bad idea. It's been done before with some success (smile).

Personally, I have never known a man whose life has changed in any significant way apart from the regular study of God's Word. We can do nothing more concrete to get to know God than to study the Bible.

Most men do not have the aptitude, interest, or time to do the 'close work' to study Bible passages in depth. That's why it's valuable to attend a Bible study in which a teacher takes Scripture, helps you discover what it means, and shows how you can apply it to your life.

It will work best for everyone to pursue Bible studies offered by your church. Attend a couples study or meet with men. Try a Bible study with your wife. If that doesn't work out, there are often community-based Bible studies offered by independent Christian ministries. Examples include the Christian Businessmen's Committee, PriorityOne Associates (Campus Crusade for Christ), and Bible Study Fellowship.

3. Accountability Group (Gal 6:1-2, Jam 5:16)

Most of our lives are lived at the cliché level. The accountable relationship is a tool to get past 'news, sports, and weather'.

Most men are not accountable. They have no one who knows how they are really doing. Accountability means to be regularly answerable for each of the key areas in our lives to qualified people. Let's briefly look at the four parts of accountability:

• Answerable To be willing to give an answer, or an 'account', for the goals you have set for yourself and the standards of God's Word.

• Regularly Why do we wash our cars, mow our lawns, and clean our glasses regularly? Because if we don't they will deteriorate. In the same way we must regularly examine the different areas of our lives or they, too, will deteriorate.

• Key Areas Key areas include relationships with God, wife, children, financial decisions, career, integrity, and temptation.

• Qualified People Find three other men in similar situations, men of wisdom and skill you believe can help keep you on track. Look for co-pilgrims. Find men who will be transparent and vulnerable, especially as your trust in each other goes up. Be sure to not only find someone who will be confidential, but be that way yourself. No women, except your wife. She would make a great accountability partner in areas like child raising, family budget, and spiritual walk.

4.Active Church Involvement (Hebrews 10:24-25)

There is no such thing as a 'Lone Ranger Christian'; you can't be a Christian by yourself. Hebrews 10:25 says,

"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another."
Notice the goal is active church involvement, not attendance. I'm constantly amazed at how many men think they can be Christians without the fellowship, encouragement, and mutual worship of God among fellow believers in the ministry of a local church. The church is God's New Community a group of people living out what it means to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

5. Personal Ministry (1 Pet 4:10-11, 2 Tim 2:2)

Once you have been practicing the four spiritual disciplines just discussed you will begin to notice that you are developing a close, personal, love relationship with Jesus Christ.

Your heart will be filled to the overflow with gratitude for all Christ is doing in your life, and the hope of what
He will do in the future. You will long to do something to express your faith in acts of service. God wants every believer to have a personal ministry. "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Eph. 2:10).

Application

1. Look up each of the verses which follow the sub-headings for the five disciplines. Are these sufficient Biblical warrants to convince you of the importance of each discipline?

2. Using the legend that follows, rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 5 for each of the five defining disciplines of growing men:

5 - I regularly and consistently practice this discipline.
4 - I usually practice this discipline on a consistent basis.
3 - I practice this discipline, but irregularly.
2 - I occasionally practice this discipline.
1 - This discipline is not part of my life right now.

____ 1. Consistent Quiet Time ____ 2. Organized Bible Study
____ 3. Accountability Group ____ 4. Active Church Involvement
____ 5. Personal Ministry

What changes would you like to make? What specifically do you plan to do?