A Proper Attitude

I recently came across a great article from Focus on the Family that shared a perspective I totally agree with relating to how the Christian community should respond to the gay community. Here it is:

I (Dr. James Dobson) feel strongly that Christians have a scriptural mandate to love and care for all the people of the world. Everyone is entitled to be treated with respect and dignity, even those who are living in immoral circumstances. There is no place for hatred, hurtful jokes, or other forms of rejection toward those who are homosexual. We cannot hope to win others to Jesus Christ if we insult and wound them.

Remember, too, that Jesus was more compassionate toward the adulterous woman caught in the very act of intercourse — a capital offense in those days — than He was to hypocrites in the church. That is our model for how to respond to a person living in sin. Indeed, we should be trying to reach out to those who don't know Jesus Christ, which is impossible in an atmosphere of hostility and fear.

Also, it should be remembered that there are celibate homosexuals who are trying desperately to live godly lives. Many of them struggle every day to do what is right, fighting inner battles that rage like wildfires. These men and women need every ounce of compassion and support they can get from Christian people who know of their tendencies. Often, however, they are rejected and excluded from the church community because of fear and misunderstanding by those who find them repulsive. This is wrong! These individuals need the community of Christ and the fellowship it can provide. They must be embraced as fellow believers who are trying to please the Lord and conform to a standard of moral purity. How can we do less?

Secular Music in Church?

I was recently asked a great question by one of our regular attenders at NDC about why we play secular music before and after service. What a good question! Let’s answer it.

In Acts 17 Paul is speaking with the unchurched Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. This lands him a speaking engagement with the Council of Philosophers. Paul begins his sermon with a reference to something in their culture; an altar to a pagan idol, with the inscription “To an Unknown God” written on it. Then, during his message, he quotes one of their pagan poets, to illustrate his point.

Paul is a missionary. And he uses culture to teach spiritual truths to unchurched people. At New Day Church, we consider ourselves missionaries to one of the biggest mission fields in the world - the United States of America. And we are all for following the biblical example of using culture to communicate spiritual truths to the unchurched.

Here’s an example...One week I was speaking on forgiveness and how bitterness will only eat away at you. So that week we played “Apologize” by One Republic before service started.

Here’s another example...In a series we recently did called 30 DAY TO LIVE we played the audio of an Eminem song called “Lose Yourself” and then quoted the chorus which talked about having only one shot and one chance at life and how you can’t miss your opportunity. This was done during the message, just like Paul did.

While we do play secular music before and after service, we DO NOT play music containing a message that is contrary to the gospel. We have found that unchurched guests are set at ease when they arrive and hear something familiar, something they can relate to. This then opens them up to hearing what we have to say about Jesus. Also, by using something they understand from culture to explain spiritual truths, people with no (or very little) Bible background can learn about Jesus.

Can Christians Lose Their Salvation

I had a great conversation the other day with someone about whether or not a believer can lose his/her salvation, fall away, back slide, etc. Here are some verses that have informed my own conclusion on the matter...

Exodus 32:31-32, "...Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a terrible sin these people have committed. They have made gods of gold for themselves. But now, if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, erase my name from the record you have written!” But the Lord replied to Moses, “No, I will erase the name of everyone who has sinned against me." The record of who is saved and who isn't is kept in the Lamb's book of life (Revelation 21:7). That is what is being referred to here. Anyone whose name isn't found in the Lambs book of life doesn't go to heaven (Revelation 21:7).

1 Kings 11:1-3, "Now King Solomon loved many foreign women...The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, 'You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.' Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway...And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord." Solomon's heart couldn't turn away from the Lord, unless his heart already belonged to the Lord. It appears here that Solomon backslid.

Jeremiah 3:8, "I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries." There came a point, due to unrepentant sin, where God rejected his people. One cannot live in perpetual unrepentant sin and think they are ok with God because they once said the sinners prayer.

Luke 8:13, "The rocky soil represents those who hear the message with joy. But like young plants in such soil, their roots don’t go very deep. They believe for a little while, but they wilt when the hot winds of testing blow." According to Jesus, people can believe for a little while but then stop believing.

Luke 13:6-9, Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ “ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’ ” God expects us to bear fruit (see Galatians 5:22). If we don't, there comes a point where we are cut down. As Matthew 3:8-10 says "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance...The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."

John 15:5-6, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." Jesus says "...you ARE the branches." These are saved people Jesus is talking to. And Jesus says to these believers "If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." Is this not a picture of hell?

I Corinthians 8:9-11, "But you must be careful with this freedom of yours. Do not cause a brother or sister with a weaker conscience to stumble. You see, this is what can happen: Weak Christians who think it is wrong to eat this food will see you eating in the temple of an idol. You know there’s nothing wrong with it, but they will be encouraged to violate their conscience by eating food that has been dedicated to the idol. So because of your superior knowledge, a weak Christian, for whom Christ died, will be destroyed." According to the apostle Paul, a Christian’s faith can be destroyed.

Galatians 5:4, "You who are trying to be justified by the law have been aliented from Christ; you have fallen away from grace." Paul was writing to Gentile (non-Jewish) Christians who accepted Christ and received the Spirit apart from knowledge of the law. After Paul came false teachers who were saying these Gentile Christians had to keep the Jewish law (i.e. circumcision, etc.) to be truly saved. Paul wrote Galatians to reinforce what he taught in the first place - that salvation is by God's grace through our faith in Jesus. To those Gentile Christians who were now trying to find right standing with God through keeping the law, he says "...you have fallen away from grace." According to this verse, Christians who stop trusting in God's salvation by faith in Jesus Christ can fall away (i.e. if they start trusting in earning their salvation by keeping the law).

Colossians 2:18-19, “Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.” This verse teaches believers can lose connection with the head (who is Christ). A physical body disconnected from its head will die. In the same way, someone cut off from Christ is spiritually dead.

Hebrews 6:4-6, "For it is impossible to restore to repentance those who were once enlightened - those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tested the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come - and who then turn away from from God. It is impossible to bring such people to repentance again because they are nailing the Son of God to the cross again by rejecting him, holding him up to public shame." According this verse believers can repent, receive salvation (be enlightened), but then choose to “turn away from God.”

James 5:19, "My dear brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back again, you can be sure that the one who brings that person back will save that sinner from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins." This verse speaks of the Christian who gradually moves away from the will of God. The Old Testament term for this is “backsliding.”

2 Peter 1:10 says, "So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away." According to the apostle Peter, you can fall away from the faith.

2 Peter 3:17, "...be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position." What does it mean to be carried away and to fall from a secure position? If you look at the context (i.e. v.15) salvation is what's being discussed.

Revelation 22:18-19, And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the prophetic words of this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book. And if anyone removes any of the words of this prophetic book, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book." According to this verse, a believer’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city (a reference to heaven) can be taken away.

In light of these verses I believe: As a Christian's salvation is received, not by an act of righteousness but by an act of faith, so the Christian's salvation is maintained, not by acts of righteousness but by a life of faith. Being a Christian then is not a matter of works; it is a matter of faith. While it is true that the Christian's salvation is not earned by his righteous deeds nor his salvation maintained by them, it is equally true that as the Christian obtains his salvation by faith, so he can lose it by unbelief. In other words: If “believers” stop believing, by definition they are no longer “believers”.

The Bible and Alcohol

At our Discover classes for new believers a common question is “What do you think about drinking alcohol?” My response is that it doesn’t matter what I think - only what the Bible says. So what DOES the Bible say about the consumption of alcohol? I’m going to share with you a blog I read by Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, that I edited and tweaked to apply to New Day Church.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Historically, God’s people have greatly enjoyed alcohol. In the European world one of the most Christian drinks was beer. Saint Gall was a missionary to the Celts and renowned brewer. After Charlemagne’s reign the church became Europe’s exclusive brewer. When a young woman was to get married, her church made special bridal ale for her, from which we derive our word bridal. Pastor John Calvin’s annual salary package included upwards of 250 gallons of wine to be enjoyed by he and his guests. Martin Luther explained the entire reformation as “…while I sat still and drank beer with Philip and Amsdorf, God dealt the papacy a mighty blow.” Luther’s wife Catherine was a skilled brewer and his love letters to her when they were apart lamented his inability to drink her beer. When the Puritan’s landed on Plymouth Rock the first permanent building they erected was the brewery.

In America at the turn of the 20th century some denominations began to condemn alcohol as sinful and the Methodist pastor Dr. Thomas Welch created the very “Christian” Welch’s grape juice to replace communion wine in 1869. While drunkenness is clearly prohibited in Scripture, drinking all together is not.

ALL BIBLE BELIEVING CHRISTIANS AGREE THAT DRUNKENNESS IS A SIN.

The Bible is abundantly clear that drunkenness is a sin (Deuteronomy 21:20; Ecclesiastes 10:17; Matthew 24:29; Luke 12:45; 21:34; Romans 13:13; 1 Corinthians 5:11; Ephesians 5:18; 1 Peter 4:3).

The matter is so serious that in the Old Testament no priest was to drink alcohol while performing their duties (Leviticus 10:9; Ezekial 44:21) though they could consume while not working (Numbers 18:12, 27, 30) and no king was to drink while judging law (Proverbs 31:4-5). In the New Testament an elder/pastor cannot be a drunkard (1 Timothy 3:3; Titus 1:7), and no drunkard will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:10; Galatians 5:21).

Sins associated with drunkenness include incest (Genesis 19:32-35), violence (Proverbs 4:17); adultery (Revelation 17:2); mockery and brawling (Proverbs 20:1); poverty (Proverbs 21:17); late night and early morning drinking (Isaiah 5:11-12); hallucinations (Isaiah 28:7); legendary antics (Isaiah 5:22); murder (2 Samuel 11:13), gluttony and poverty (Proverbs 23:20-21); vomiting (Jeremiah 25:27, 48:26; Isaiah 19:14); staggering (Jeremiah 25:27; Psalm 107:27; Job 12:25); madness (Jeremiah 51:7), loudness combined with laughter and then prolonged sleep (Jeremiah 51:39; nakedness (Habbakuk 2:15; Lamentations 4:21); sloth (Joel 1:5); escapism (Hosea 4:11); depression (Luke 21:34); and staying up all night (1 Thessalonians 5:7).

PROHIBITIONISTS WRONGLY TEACH THAT ALL DRINKING IS A SIN AND THAT ALCOHOL ITSELF IS AN EVIL

Psalm 104:14-15 "He God makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate-bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart.”

John 2:1-11 is clear that Jesus’ first miracle was turning over 100 gallons of water into wine at a wedding party.

Matthew 11:19 "The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' But wisdom is proved right by her actions."

ABSTENTIONISTS WRONGLY TEACH THAT DRINKING IS NOT SINFUL BUT THAT ALL CHRISTIANS SHOULD AVOID DRINKING OUT OF LOVE FOR OTHERS AND A DESIRE TO NOT CAUSE ANYONE TO STUMBLE

Hosea 2:8 "She has not acknowledged that I [God] was the one who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil, who lavished on her the silver and gold-which they used for Baal."

1 Timothy 4:1-5 "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

1 Corinthians 10:31 "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

MODERATIONISTS RIGHTLY TEACH THAT DRINKING IS NOT A SIN AND THAT CHRISTIAN CONSCIENCE MUST GUIDE EACH PERSON (Romans 14)

Wine is spoken of as both good and bad in the same verses (1 Samuel 1:14, 24; 25:18, 37; Joel 1:5,10).

Apart from good feasting, alcohol in Scripture is rightly used for communion (Matthew 26:29; Mark 14:25; Luke 22:18), medicinal purposes (Proverbs 31:6; 1 Timothy 5:23), and Old Testament worship (Numbers 28:14).

Proverbs 3:9-10 "Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine."

Ecclesiastes 9:7 "Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart."

Psalm 104:14-15 "He [God] makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate-bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart."

Deuteronomy 14:26 The Old Testament tither was instructed by God: "Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice."

THE CONCLUSION OF THE MATTER

At New Day Church, we ask that everyone act according to their conscience when it comes to alcohol consumption. Because of past sin, some who have had problems with alcohol may need to abstain for fear of stumbling into old sinful habits. For those who enjoy alcohol with biblical moderation, we recommend using discernment when providing hospitality for others who may have conscience or addiction issues. And in the future, we look forward to the day when our Lord and Savior will prepare for us a redeemed feast with wine:

"On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. It will be said on that day, "Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation." - Isaiah 25:6-9