the myth of the doctrine’s supposed ‘late development’ continues

Penal Substitution in the Writings of the Church Fathers

Penal substitution has a long and distinguished pedigree, and was expressely articulated by many in the early Church. Sadly, the myth of the doctrine’s supposed ‘late development’ continues to be perpetuated in books and theological seminaries all over the world. To set the record straight, we have included a few extracts from ancient Christian writings here, all of which are discussed  in more detail in the book,Pierced for Our Transgressions. Theological students are encouraged to copy and paste them into their essays as required.
In many cases, the entire works from which the extracts are taken are available from those wonderful people at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library HERE.
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Justin Martyr (c. 100-165), Dialogue with Trypho
Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, repr. 1969), sect. xcv, p. 247.
XCV — Christ took upon Himself the curse due to us.
For the whole human race will be found to be under a curse. For it is written in the law of Moses, ‘Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them’ [Deut 27:26]. And no one has accurately done all, nor will you venture to deny this; but some more and some less than others have observed the ordinances enjoined. But if those who are under this law appear to be under a curse for not having observed all the requirements, how much more shall all the nations appear to be under a curse who practise idolatry, who seduce youths, and commit other crimes? If, then, the Father of all wished His Christ for the whole human family to take upon Him the curses of all, knowing that, after He had been crucified and was dead, He would raise Him up, why do you argue about Him, who submitted to suffer these things according to the Father’s will, as if He were accursed, and do not rather bewail yourselves? For although His Father caused Him to suffer these things in behalf of the human family, yet you did not commit the deed as in obedience to the will of God. For you did not practise piety when you slew the prophets. And let none of you say: If His Father wished Him to suffer this, in order that by His stripes the human race might be healed, we have done no wrong. If, indeed, you repent of your sins, and recognise Him to be Christ, and observe His commandments, then you may assert this; for, as I have said before, remission of sins shall be yours. But if you curse Him and them that believe on Him, and, when you have the power, put them to death, how is it possible that requisition shall not be made of you, as of unrighteous and sinful men, altogether hard-hearted and without understanding, because you laid your hands on Him?
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Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 275-339), Proof of the Gospel
Trans. and ed. W. J. Ferrar (London: SPCK; New York: Macmillan, 1920), vol. 2, bk. 10, ch. 1, p. 195.
So it is said: 'And the Lord hath laid on him our iniquities, and he bears our sins.' Thus the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world, became a curse on our behalf:
'Whom, though he knew no sin, God made sin for our sake, giving him as redemption for all, that we might become the righteousness of God in him.' [2 Cor. 5:21]
... And how can He make our sins His own, and be said to bear our iniquities, except by our being regarded as His body, according to the apostle, who says: 'Now ye are the body of Christ, and severally members?' [1 Cor. 12:27] And by the rule that 'if one member suffer all the members suffer with it,' so when the many members suffer and sin, He too by the laws of sympathy ... takes into Himself the labours of the suffering members, and makes our sicknesses His, and suffers all our woes and labours by the laws of love. And the Lamb of God not only did this, but was chastised on our behalf, and suffered a penalty He did not owe, but which we owed because of the multitude of our sins; and so He became the cause of the forgiveness of our sins, because He received death for us, and transferred to Himself the scourging, the insults, and the dishonour, which were due to us, and drew down upon Himself the appointed curse, being made a curse for us.
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Hilary of Poitiers (c. 300-368), Homily on Psalm 53 (54)
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, ser. II, vol. 9 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, repr. 1976), sect. 1, p. 246.
For next there follows: I will sacrifice unto Thee freely. The sacrifices of the Law, which consisted of whole burnt-offerings and oblations of goats and of bulls, did not involve an expression of free will, because the sentence of a curse was pronounced on all who broke the Law. Whoever failed to sacrifice laid himself open to the curse. And it was always necessary to go through the whole sacrificial action because the addition of a curse to the commandment forbad any trifling with the obligation of offering. It was from this curse that our Lord Jesus Christ redeemed us, when, as the Apostle says: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made curse for us, for it is written: cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree [Gal. 3:13]. Thus He offered Himself to the death of the accursed that He might break the curse of the Law, offering Himself voluntarily a victim to God the Father, in order that by means of a voluntary victim the curse which attended the discontinuance of the regular victim might be removed.
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Athanasius (c. 300-373), On the Incarnation
(New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1993), sect. 8, p. 34.
Thus, taking a body like our own, because all our bodies were liable to the corruption of death, He surrendered His body to death in place of all, and offered it to the Father. This He did out of sheer love for us, so that in His death all might die, and the law of death thereby be abolished because, having fulfilled in His body that for which it was appointed, it was thereafter voided of its power for men. This He did that He might turn again to incorruption men who had turned back to corruption, and make them alive through death by the appropriation of His body and by the grace of His resurrection. Thus He would make death to disappear from them as utterly as straw from fire.
Ibid., sect. 9, p. 35.
The Word perceived that corruption could not be got rid of otherwise than through death; yet He Himself, as the Word, being immortal and the Father’s Son, was such as could not die. For this reason, therefore, He assumed a body capable of death, in order that it, through belonging to the Word Who is above all, might become in dying a sufficient exchange for all, and, itself remaining incorruptible through His indwelling, might thereafter put an end to corruption for all others as well, by the grace of the resurrection. It was by surrendering to death the body which He had taken, as an offering and sacrifice free from every stain, that He forthwith abolished death for His human brethren by the offering of the equivalent. For naturally, since the Word of God was above all, when He offered His own temple and bodily instrument as a substitute for the life of all, He fulfilled in death all that was required.
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Gregory Nazianzus (c. 330-390), The Fourth Theological Oration
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, ser. II, vol. 7 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, repr. 1974), sect. v, p. 311.
Take, in the next place, the subjection by which you subject the Son to the Father. What, you say, is He not now subject, or must He, if He is God, be subject to God? You are fashioning your argument as if it concerned some robber, or some hostile deity. But look at it in this manner: that as for my sake He was called a curse, Who destroyed my curse; and sin, who taketh away the sin of the world; and became a new Adam to take the place of the old, just so He makes my disobedience His own as Head of the whole body. As long then as I am disobedient and rebellious, both by denial of God and by my passions, so long Christ also is called disobedient on my account. But when all things shall be subdued unto Him on the one hand by acknowledgment of Him, and on the other by a reformation, then He Himself also will have fulfilled His submission, bringing me whom He has saved to God. For this, according to my view, is the subjection of Christ; namely, the fulfilling of the Father’s Will.
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Ambrose of Milan (339-397), Flight from the World
The Fathers of the Church, vol. 65, trans. M. P. McHugh (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1972), ch. 7, sect. 44, pp. 314–315.
And so then, Jesus took flesh that He might destroy the curse of sinful flesh, and He became for us a curse that a blessing might overwhelm a curse, uprightness might overwhelm sin, forgiveness might overwhelm the sentence, and life might overwhelm death. He also took up death that the sentence might be fulfilled and satisfaction might be given for the judgment, the curse placed on sinful flesh even to death. Therefore, nothing was done contrary to God’s sentence when the terms of that sentence were fulfilled, for the curse was unto death but grace is after death.
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John Chrysostom (c. 350-407), Homilies on Second Corinthians
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, ser. I, vol. 12 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, repr. 1969), Homily XI, sect. 6, p. 335.
If one that was himself a king, beholding a robber and malefactor under punishment, gave his well-beloved son, his only-begotten and true, to be slain;and transferred the death and the guilt as well, from him to his son (who was himself of no such character), that he might both save the condemned man and clear him from his evil reputation; and then if, having subsequently promoted him to great dignity, he had yet, after thus saving him and advancing him to that glory unspeakable, been outraged by the person that had received such treatment: would not that man, if he had any sense, have chosen ten thousand deaths rather than appear guilty of so great ingratitude? This then let us also now consider with ourselves, and groan bitterly for the provocations we have offered our Benefactor; nor let us therefore presume, because though outraged he bears it with long-suffering; but rather for this very reason be full of remorse.
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Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Against Faustus
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, ser. I, vol. 4 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974), bk. 14, sect. 6, p. 209.
If we read, ‘Cursed of God is every one that hangeth on a tree,’ [Gal. 3:13; cf.Deut 21:23] the addition of the words ‘of God’ creates no difficulty. For had not God hated sin and our death, He would not have sent His Son to bear and to abolish it. And there is nothing strange in God’s cursing what He hates. For His readiness to give us the immortality which will be had at the coming of Christ, is in proportion to the compassion with which He hated our death when it hung on the cross at the death of Christ. And if Moses curses every one that hangeth on a tree, it is certainly not because he did not foresee that righteous men would be crucified, but rather because He foresaw that heretics would deny the death of the Lord to be real, and would try to disprove the application of this curse to Christ, in order that they might disprove the reality of His death. For if Christ’s death was not real, nothing cursed hung on the cross when He was crucified, for the crucifixion cannot have been real. Moses cries from the distant past to these heretics: Your evasion in denying the reality of the death of Christ is useless. Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree; not this one or that, but absolutely every one. What! the Son of God? Yes, assuredly. This is the very thing you object to, and that you are so anxious to evade. You will not allow that He was cursed for us, because you will not allow that He died for us. Exemption from Adam’s curse implies exemption from his death. But as Christ endured death as man, and for man; so also, Son of God as He was, ever living in His own righteousness, but dying for our offences, He submitted as man, and for man, to bear the curse which accompanies death. And as He died in the flesh which He took in bearing our punishment, so also, while ever blessed in His own righteousness, He was cursed for our offences, in the death which He suffered in bearing our punishment. And these words ‘every one’ are intended to check the ignorant officiousness which would deny the reference of the curse to Christ, and so, because the curse goes along with death, would lead to the denial of the true death of Christ.
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Gelasius of Cyzicus (fifth century), Church History
ii, 24, in Die Griechischen Christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte, vol. 28 (Leipzig: Preussische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1897–), p. 100
After a period of three years and at the beginning of the fourth he thus draws near to his bodily suffering, which he willingly undergoes on our behalf. For the punishment of the cross was due to us; but if we had all been crucified, we would have had no power to deliver ourselves from death, ‘for death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who did not sin’ (Rom. 5:14). There were many holy men, many prophets, many righteous men, but not one of them had the power to ransom himself from the authority of death; but he, the Saviour of all, came and received the punishments which were due to us into his sinless flesh, which was of us, in place of us, and on our behalf.
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Gregory the Great (540-604), Church History
Morals on the Book of Job, vol. 1 (Oxford: John Henry Parker, 1844), bk. 3, sect 14, p 148
‘Whereas this Man dies not on His own account, but on account of that other, thou didst then move Me to the afflicting of This one, when thou didst withdraw that other from Me by thy cunning persuasions.’  And of Him it is rightly added, without cause.  For ‘he was destroyed without cause,’ who was at once weighed to the earth by the avenging of sin, and not defiled by the pollution of sin.  He ‘was destroyed without cause,’ Who, being made incarnate, had no sins of His own, and yet being without offence took upon Himself the punishment of the carnal.

Piper & Warren on being rad.

The Road to Apostasy

By Mike Gendron of Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries

Churches and denominations that once upheld the faith of the apostles have drifted into apostasy. Church history reveals 4 significant steps that lead to apostasy.

First Step into Apostasy

God’s word is rejected as the supreme authority for faith and practice. Traditions and movements of men cause confusion and divided loyalties. The power of the Gospel is weakened by compromise. Evangelism is replaced by sacramental salvation or other unbiblical methods of conversion. Churches give people what they want instead of what they need. Biblical warnings to expose false teachers are ignored.

Second Step into Apostasy

Scripture is twisted and distorted for self-serving agendas. “Infallible” men claim to be successors of the apostles. Biblical ignorance provides fertile ground for false teachers.
Truth becomes subjective. Doctrinal error and sin are tolerated. Satan sows his tares with little resistance. Contenders for the faith are asked to leave. People honor God with their lips but their hearts are far from Him.

Third Step into Apostasy

Entertainment and liturgy have moved Jesus out of the church and there is now a focus on myths and worldliness to entertain the goats. Hearts become hardened and love for God grows cold. Doctrinal error is embraced. There is no love for the truth and no discernment. A form of godliness exists but it’s void of power. Trials and persecution expose dead faith. Sin and immoral lifestyles are tolerated.

Fourth Step into Apostasy

Teaching is influenced by doctrines of demons. Deception is full-blown. Lying signs and wonders, including apparitions, are embraced as messages from God. Idolatry and prayers to the dead are encouraged. Those who embrace the Gospel truth are condemned with anathema. Grace is turned into a license to sin. The church’s lamp stand has been removed and a certain terrifying judgment is now unavoidable.
Born again Christians who are in apostate churches must leave and find a church where they can worship God in Spirit and Truth.

OPRAH’S DANGEROUS POP SPIRITUALITY EASTERN MYSTICISM

THE FAIRY TALE OF EVOLUTION

DEAR MR ATHEIST: THE FAIRY TALE OF EVOLUTION

By Ken Silva pastor-teacher

Apprising Ministries now offers you the truth in regard to the alleged great ages of the universe, and the earth’s strata that we are always hearing about?
The late Dr. Ron Carlson now uncovers for us the scientific shell game they play with dating methods:

There are a variety of methods. You have Carbon 14 dating, which is good back to a maximum of 20,000 years – it has great fluctuation at that. In fact, it has dated live snails at 10,000 years old–which is a little hard to swallow. Then you have Argon Potassium 25, which goes back to an estimate of 100,000 years, and it is also based on an assumption that things react to our atmosphere now, the same way they always have, and that cannot be established.

But when you get back into the [supposed] millions of years, the only way you can date something that old is by the geological strata. So as these paleontologists dig down through the layers of the earth, they date the fossils by the age of the strata in which they are found. Now, the thinking person is going to ask: Well; how do they know the age of the layer of the earth in the first place?
They date the strata by the age of the fossils they find in it. The first time I heard this I thought my professor was kidding! Until I began to research this and I discovered that in paleontology they are caught in the fallacy of circular reasoning; I kid you not! They date the fossil by the strata, and they date the strata by the fossil–you can date anything any way you want to using this method! And believe me; they do!

Dr. Carlson is proved correct by the secular source The World Book Encyclopedia, where in one volume under fossils it says: “Scientists determine when fossils were formed by finding out the age of the rock in which they lie.”
However, in another volume of the same encyclopedia set under strata we read: “Paleontology (the study of fossils) is important in the study of Geology. The age of the rocks may be determined by the fossils found in them.”
Wait a minute; first we’re told the rocks date the fossils, and then they turn around and tell us that it’s the fossils that date the rocks! At the risk of offending those who put so much faith in the power of human reason, this clearly violates the laws of logic.
Dr. Carlson is quite right when he says this is the fallacy of “circular reasoning,” also known as begging the question. In closing this, for now, let me share this with you from former evolutionist, Dr. Gary Parker, a professor of biology, who tells of a television show he saw while in Canada.
Dr. Parker remembers:

As the credits began to fade away the camera showed a medieval princess walking in a castle garden, and you could tell she was looking for something very special. The music begins to play softly, and then the camera slowly swings over to the edge of a little pond where a frog is sitting.
As the princess hears the sound of the frog she moves over to the edge of the pond. She then bends down and kisses the frog, and stars sparkle all over the screen! And from out of the stars steps this handsome prince.
And, as the prince and the princess engage in an embrace, the narrator of the program walks into this idyllic scene and says: “If you believe a frog turned into a prince instantly, that’s a fairy tale. If you believe it took 300 million years–that’s evolution!”

This is offered as an appeal for you to awaken from the fairytale of evolution, as I commend to your attention the Book to end all fables. And I urge you to consider this special Book, which has the ultimate happy ending—repentance and forgiveness of sins’ in Jesus’ Name.
Passing from death unto eternal life through Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of God, for all who will believe. That Book, is the Bible, and it has stood the test of time.

Repentace & Faith

We march to heaven on two feet. The one foot is called `repentance’ and the other foot is called `faith.’ Because I believe I repent about a certain sin, habit or attitude. Because I repent I return to learn more for my faith.

My faith leads me to do more repentance. Left, right, left, right–one foot forward, then the other–faith and repentance, faith and repentance. This is well illustrated in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. In that allegory Christian repented because the City of Destruction was so bad.

He thought again and then read his Bible. That led to faith. Then faith led to repentance which this time led him to leave the City of Destruction. With these two feet of repentance and faith Christian marched forward until he came to the cross and had his sins removed. After then he went forward to the heavenly city, repenting and believing all the way.

One major mistake to avoid is the idea that a certain amount of repentance has to be stored up before a person can believe in Christ outright, once and for all, for salvation. No! The warrant of faith for salvation is God’s command: `Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved’ (Acts 16:31).

If you give way to the notion that a certain amount of repentance must be present before you can have saving faith, where will that end? Who can possibly tell whether you have done enough rethinking or whether there is enough sorrow attached to your `afterthinking’ or repentance about sin?

If you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that he is able and willing to forgive you and change you, then that in itself is repentance quite adequate for you to commit yourself to Christ wholly by faith.

Erroll Hulse

The Reformed Baptist Fellowship loves Spurgeon, you should too

God Does Not Give a Fresh Revelation

 

Now there are some persons who make a great mistake about the influence of the Holy Spirit. A foolish man, who had fancy to preach in a certain pulpit, though in truth he was quite incapable of the duty, called upon the minister, and assured him solemnly that it had been revealed to him by the Holy Ghost, that he was to preach in his pulpit.

“Very well,” said the minister, “I suppose I must not doubt your assertion, but as it has not been revealed to me that I am to let you preach, you must go your way until it is.”

I have heard many fanatical persons say the Holy Spirit revealed this and that to them. Now that is very generally revealed nonsense. The Holy Ghost does not reveal anything fresh now. He brings old things to our remembrance. “He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have told you.” The canon of revelation is closed; there is no more to be added. God does not give a fresh revelation, but he rivets the old one. When it has been forgotten, and laid in the dusty chamber of our memory, he fetches it out and cleans the picture, but does not paint a new one.
There are no new doctrines, but the old ones are often revived. It is not, I say, by any new revelation that the Spirit comforts. He does so by telling us old things over again; he brings a fresh lamp to manifest the treasures hidden in Scripture; he unlocks the strong chests in which the truth had long lain, and he points to secret chambers filled with untold riches; but he comes no more, for enough is done.

Believer! there is enough in the Bible for thee to live upon for ever. If thou shouldst outnumber the years of Methusaleh, there would be no need for a fresh revelation; if thou shouldst live till Christ should come upon the earth, there would be no necessity for the addition of a single word; if thou shouldst go down as deep as Jonah, or even descend as David said he did, into the belly of hell, still there would be enough in the Bible to comfort thee without a supplementary sentence.

But Christ says, “He shall take of mine and shall show it unto you.” ^[1]

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^[1] Charles H. Spurgeon, Spurgeon’s Sermons: Volume 1, “The Comforter,” a sermon delivered on Sunday evening, January 21, 1855.

I don't really care about Tebow, I do care that Mohler is right about the state of the Christ's Chruch and Satan's Culture

Tebow's Big Fumble

Soon, the ball will be thrown to each of us.

R. Albert Mohler, Jr.

[ posted 2/22/2013 1:54PM ]

 

For Tim Tebow, speaking at the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, had to look like a great opportunity. He grew up attending a large Southern Baptist church, and an invitation to speak at one of the most venerable and historic Baptist churches in the world had to look like an easy call. He was going.

All that changed yesterday when Tebow, the National Football League's most prominent evangelical symbol, sent word through Twitter that he was withdrawing from the event. His sudden announcement came after a whirlwind of controversy over his scheduled appearance at the Dallas church. Its senior minister, Robert Jeffress, is no stranger to public controversy. His sound bites are often incendiary, but his convictions—including the exclusivity of the gospel and the belief that homosexual behaviors are sinful—are clearly within the mainstream of American evangelicalism.

While many complained about Jeffress's tone and stridency, the controversy quickly shifted to secular outrage that Tebow would agree to speak to a church known for such beliefs.

Gregg Doyel of CBS Sports warned, "Tim Tebow is about to make the biggest mistake of his life" by speaking at "a hateful Baptist preacher's church." Doyel described Jeffress as "an evangelical cretin" guilty of serial hate speech. Of course, Doyel engaged in hateful and slanderous speech of his own by associating Jeffress with the truly hateful Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas. Jeffress "isn't as bad as Westboro," Doyel admitted, "But he comes close. Too close."

Other sportswriters piled on. Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post offered his own warning to Tebow: "After a season on the sidelines, the ball's in your hands, Timmy. Better not fumble this one."

The controversy threatened to dominate Tebow's life, so the 25-year-old athlete withdrew, attempting to escape his predicament. Stating that he has wished to "share a message of hope and Christ's unconditional love" with the historic congregation, Tebow said that "due to new information that was brought to my attention" he has decided to cancel the event. He then pledged to use "the platform God has blessed me with to bring Faith, Hope, and Love to all those needing a brighter day."

If Tebow meant to mollify his critics, it is not likely to work for long. Tebow has identified himself as a vocal evangelical believer. His church roots go deep, and it is safe to say that he has never had a pastor who, though speaking in a different tone, would have disagreed with Jeffress on the exclusivity of Christ and the sinfulness of homosexuality. He has given no indication that he has moved from those convictions, and his closest friends assure that he has not.

Writing at The Huffington Post, Paul Brandeis Raushenbush made it clear the controversy wasn't just a matter of Jeffress's tone, conceding, "while Dr. Jeffress has a tendency not to sugarcoat his feelings," he is nonetheless voicing what evangelical Christians "have been saying for a long time." The central scandal here is the belief that Jesus is the only Savior and that homosexual behavior is sin. In terms of the larger public debate, it is the issue of homosexuality that has predominated the larger public debate... at least for now.

The Tebow controversy comes just weeks after evangelical pastor Louie Giglio withdrew from delivering a prayer at President Barack Obama's second inaugural ceremony. Giglio had been "outed" as having preached a message almost 20 years ago that affirmed the sinfulness of homosexuality and stressed that the "only way out of a homosexual lifestyle… is through the healing power of Jesus."

No one could accuse Giglio of stridency or reckless language. Famously non-confrontational on such issues, he even explained that homosexuality "has not been in the range of my priorities in the past 15 years" – a fact that puzzled many evangelicals, who wondered what guidance the young people in Giglio's church had been receiving from him on this issue for a decade and a half.

Under a glare of intense and even overwhelming controversy, Giglio withdrew from the inaugural ceremony, and Tebow has withdrawn from speaking at FBC. Both did so in an effort to escape a controversy that threatened to hinder their efforts to represent Christ in a winsome way. Both decisions are understandable in light of the pressure, but neither Giglio nor Tebow can escape the question that the larger world is now pressing upon them: What exactly do you believe about homosexuality?

No statement short of celebrating and affirming the normalization of homosexuality will be found acceptable to those now demanding an answer. Writing for Yahoo! Sports, Jay Busbee stated what is now obvious: "Whatever the reason for his cancellation, Tebow is fast approaching the point where he'll need to make more definitive stands on his own. There are plenty of people needing him to speak up for one reason or another; he'll need to decide how public to go with his perspective on Christianity. He has the power and potential to be an influential voice for his religion, but he'll need to decide how much of that religion he wishes to demonstrate."

Now, take out Tebow's name and insert your own. The massive moral shift taking shape around us is fast eliminating any neutral ground on this issue. Those celebrating the moral normalization of homosexuality will demand an answer from us all. Giglio and Tebow withdrew from controversial appearances, but they will not evade the demand to answer the fundamental question, and any Christian who will not join the moral revolution will be marginalized as a moral outlier in the larger society.

Evangelical Christians are now called upon to think strategically about what it means to speak truthfully and lovingly to a society that increasingly sees us as the moral outlaws. Clearly, we must watch our speech carefully, measuring every word for truth and tone and avoiding incendiary sound bites. We must also guard our hearts toward the persistent temptation towards self-righteousness. But, at the same time, even the most humble statement of biblical truth can now be turned into a sound bite described as hate speech and a refusal to affirm the normalization of homosexuality is turned into repulsive intolerance. We now face no shortage of arguments for capitulation, but abandoning the truth of God's Word is not an option. We deny the gospel if we deny the sinfulness of sin. That sin. Every sin. Our sin.

Further, evangelicals should not miss this opportunity to rethink our focus on evangelical celebrities in popular culture, including sports heroes. For now, the controversy is over Tebow's withdrawal from an invitation extended by an historic church. The pastor's statements have been the center of the controversy. Inevitably, the controversy will shift to Tebow's own statement, which he will eventually have to make. There will be no escape.

Before long, the ball will be thrown back to Tebow. I hope and pray he does not fumble it. I pray the same for myself and for every Christian in the midst of this tumultuous cultural landscape. Sooner than later, the ball will be thrown to each of us.

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The Bible Is Not about You

Byron Yawn

From Christianity.com : 

I hate to disappoint you, but the Bible is not about you. Specifically, it was not written to improve the quality of your daily existence (in the way you think). It is not a spiritual handbook and it is not a guide to determining God’s will for your life. The Bible is not a story of God determining in eternity past to send His Son to earth to create a more satisfactory existence for you. But, this is usually where we (American church-goers) take the story. We are seriously self-absorbed when it comes to our Bibles.

Who else could take the unbelievable episode of Moses and the burning bush and bend it back toward our everyday experience? Or, the life of Joseph and draw out principles for effective management? (Or mine Nehemiah for leadership advice. Yes, I’m talking about you MNU Biblical Leadership class.) Your life and happiness are not adequate points of reference for the scope of what God has done and is doing. Neither are mine. It’s bigger than you and me.

In the Bible we are watching as redemption comes to pass on the pages of Scripture, one unbelievable event after another, eventually leading to Christ. Each page rumbles with anticipation. When you see it from here, the Bible opens up in ways you’ve never imagined. It takes off.

Unfortunately, we’ve been conditioned to read ourselves onto the pages and into the events of Scripture (this is called Narcissism). We don’t even realize we’re doing it. What’s the first question we ask of the Bible in our personal reading times or church services? “How is this relevant to me?” This is the wrong question entirely. No question could push us further from the real story. It’s very much like walking out into the night sky and assuming all the stars showed up to look at us.

When we approach the Bible this way, we can’t help but read it as if we’re the center of the biblical universe and all of its history revolves around us. When everything is read through the lens of self, self-improvement, and self-contentment, we’re destined to miss the point. But this is what we always do. Is it any wonder most Christians—even those who care deeply about the Word of God—are unable to put it all together?

Usually, biblical stories are approached as a set of isolated events with no connection to each other or to the greater redemptive plotline of the Bible. Without the real story, the events of the Bible become merely parables for better living, moral platitudes, character studies, or whatever else we can come up with. In the absence of a greater plot this is all we have. Over the years popular (mega-church, seeker-sensitive, purpose-driven) “Christianity” has practically rewritten the Bible. Our version of various events reads more like a fairy tale than God’s story.   

·Eve’s decision to eat of the fruit and the subsequent disintegration of humanity becomes a lesson on the effects of negligent leadership and an absentee husband.

·Cain’s homicidal rage becomes a lesson on avoiding sibling rivalry.

·Abraham’s attempted sacrifice of his only son becomes a lesson in trusting against all odds for God to provide, or how we should all surrender our children to God.

·Moses before a burning bush becomes a prototype for decision-making.

·Gideon becomes an example of how to determine the will of God.

·The prayer of Jabez becomes a lesson about expanding our personal influence.

·David’s encounter with the fighting champion of a hostile nation becomes a lesson in overcoming our greatest personal challenges (“our giants”).

·Jonah, a prophet miraculously swallowed by a fish and vomited out on a specific shoreline, becomes an example of the futility of resisting God’s purpose in your life.

·Jesus’ testing in the wilderness in a template for how we resist temptation.

·The story of a caring Samaritan is a model of how we should reach out with compassion to those of other races and classes.

·A young unnamed paralytic dropped through a roof at the feet of Jesus by four men becomes a lesson on the value of friendship.  

None of these interpretations are remotely close to the real point of the events themselves. We’ve told them wrong. You may think I’m crazy, but stick with me. I used to approach the Bible the same way. I totally missed it. Or to be more specific, I missed the point. All these events and people lead us to the person of Jesus. It’s about Jesus.

The lessons we typically draw out of the biblical stories are secondary observations at best. Usually this is because it’s all we know to do with them. Fact is the same sort of life lessons could be derived from any contemporary biography or history. The meanings and applications we’ve given these events have nothing at all to do with what’s going on in the true story. Our approach is about the same as looking for stock tips in the sonnets of Shakespeare. This oversight is so very tragic.

Something so much greater is underway in these sacred pages. These events were not intended to be spiritualized into oblivion and dissected as lessons about raising kids or starting businesses (or having more satisfying sex, or vision-casting leadership principles or anything else seeker-model, mega-church pastors life-coaches preach about). They are intended to be marveled at by God’s people. We stand and point at what God has done. They are each a link in a chain of redemptive history that moves from Genesis to Revelation. They’re not isolated at all. They’re amazing demonstrations of the divine continuity of God’s power. They are each the commitment of a Holy God to keep His promises and honor His holy name among men.

Our response to the individual incidents should be, “Look how God used this to get us to Jesus,” not “Look how this relates to my longing for significance.”

We’ve lost the main story line that pulls all the pieces together and gives them a consistent meaning, so we essentially take what’s available and make up a story. What we’ve come up with in evangelicalism is a bit like Little House on the Prairie. (Didn’t Michael Landon bare a strange resemblance to King David?) The Bible is now the epic tale of trials and triumph on the frontier of a long-ago land. It is no longer about what God has been doing for man and is more about what humanity has done to impress God. We approach it more as a collection of fables that indirectly offer principles for life (a successful purpose-driven life). The Bible is no longer about how God went about saving humanity from the brink of desolation. The Bible is more the account of how God occasionally stopped to applaud the faith of a few exceptional people. It’s less about what He has done. It’s almost exclusively what we can do if we learn from the lives of heroic figures in God’s Word.  

We do the weirdest things to the Bible in the absence of the cohesive theme. No other book is treated so recklessly by people who honor that same book so greatly. Among our favorite rewrites are character sketches. We like to examine the lives of Old Testament saints—triumphs and tragedies alike—and offer various patterns for living. Almost everyone assumes this is the very reason the Old Testament saints show up in the biblical record. Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, and Deborah have all come to represent examples to live by (or not to). What else could be the reason for the focus on their lives? Therefore we mine them for spiritual and moral principles (or business leadership ethics scenarios – MNU Biblical leadership class!). Sermons are preached and books are written about their lives and offered as blueprints for daily life, success in business, or practical decision-making skills. 

Every Sunday kids sit in Sunday school classes, look at flannel boards or snip at construction paper with safety scissors, and learn how these ancient figures are examples of faithfulness or failure. The consistent message is, be like them and life will work out better. Or don’t be like them and life will work out better (I think he means “worst” here). Work harder, make good decisions, and stay out of trouble like Joseph, and God will bless you.

When these same kids reach their early twenties, struggle with real life, and fail to reach Joseph’s moral high ground, they despair. They can’t do it. Joseph was exceptional. They get angry with God when life does not work out according to the coloring pages. Eventually they find Christianity irrelevant and powerless to save them, and they walk away.

They’re exactly right—Joseph is powerless to save them. We’re creating angry moralists, setting them up for failure, and blaming it on the Bible. Tragically, the one message that actually could save them from their failure was before us in the story of Joseph the entire time. We failed to mention it. Families would run from our children’s programs if parents knew the effect our Bible lessons are having on their kids.

This approach to understanding this amazing book could not push us further from the real message and central character of the Bible. I know this sounds ridiculous to most of us and maybe even sacrilegious to some, but it should be obvious. The Bible is about Jesus, not Moses or any other biblical figure. The point of Moses is not Moses, but the one to whom Moses points. The Bible explicitly argues this very thing.

Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession; He was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house. For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later; but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end (Hebrews 3:1-6).

[Editor’s note: taken from the forthcoming book by Byron Yawn, Suburbianity: Can We Find Our Way Back to Biblical Christianity?Used by permission.] 

Byron Yawn is the senior pastor of Community Bible Church in Nashville, Tennessee. He is the author of What Every Man Wishes His Father Had Told Him, and the forthcoming Suburbianity: Can We Find Our Way Back to Biblical Christianity? (Harvest House) You can follow him on Twitter@byronyawn. 

Tract 18

'LL go down if father will hold the rope," was the offer of a Highland lad, when a traveller wanted him to reach the eggs of a wild bird which had built on a rocky ledge. The boy felt that there would be no danger if the rope was in his father's hand, for he had a powerful arm, and a loving heart, and would not leave his own child to perish.
Timid believers are afraid to begin to work for Jesus. To teach in the Sunday-school, to commence a Tract District, to visit the cottagers, to preach on the green, any of these seem to them to be too arduous and difficult. Suppose they were to look up to their Heavenly Father, and rely upon his promised aid, might they not venture? It cannot need much courage to rely upon Almighty strength. Go, dear friend, to thy work, and thy Father will hold the rope.
Unbelief is apt to foresee terrible trials as awaiting us upon our road to heaven. Your position will be, so fear tells you, like that of one hanging over the raging sea, by the side of a precipitous cliff; but there remember the eternal love which will be your unfailing support. You may hang there without the slightest fear, for Father will hold the rope.
The awakened sinner dreads the wrath of Heaven, and fears that his eternal ruin is inevitable; but if he has learned to depend alone upon the Lord Jesus, there is no room for further alarm. The Lord Jehovah has become the salvation of every soul that has laid hold upon the hope set before him in the Lord Jesus. The great matter no longer rests with the sinner after he has believed, the weight of his soul's eternal interests hangs upon Jesus the Saviour. The eternal arm which never wearies, will put forth all its power to uphold the trusting ones; and every believing sinner may sing in joyful security, though Satan should set all hell boiling beneath him, for the great Father holds the rope.

Spurgeon Classic

ANY persons are greatly disquieted in mind because their experience of conviction or comfort has not been like that of others. They fancy that they cannot have come to Christ aright because they have not felt precisely the same joys or expressions as certain saints of whom they have read. Now, should these good people be so troubled? We think not. Uniformity is not God's rule of working either in nature or in grace. No two human faces display exactly the same lineaments; sons of the same mother, born at the same birth, may be as different as Jacob and Esau. Not even in leagues of forest will two leaves be found in all respects alike. Diversity is the rule of nature, and let us rest assured that variety is the rule of grace.
Mr. Beecher has given us this truth in a very beautiful form in the following lines:—"What if God should command the flowers to appear before him, and the sunflower should come bending low with shame because it was not a violet, and the violet should come striving to lift itself up to be like a sunflower, and the lily should seek to gain the bloom of the rose, and the rose the whiteness of the lily; and so, each one disdaining itself, should seek to grow into the likeness of the other?" God would say, 'Stop foolish flowers! I gave you your own forms and hues, and odours, and I wish you to bring what you have received. O, sunflower, come as a sunflower; and you sweet violet, come as a violet; let the rose bring the rose's bloom, and the lily the lily's whiteness.' Perceiving their folly, and ceasing to long for what they had not, violet and rose, lily and geranium, mignionette and anemone, and all the floral train would come, each in its own loveliness, to send up its fragrance as incense, and all wreathe themselves in a garland of beauty about the throne of God."
Reader, the saints are one in Christ Jesus, but they are not one in their peculiarities. Be we who we may, if we rest on the Redeemer our eternal life is sure; and if not, we are dead while we live. What is Jesus Christ to me? that is the main question. If he is my all, then all is well; if not, I may be very like a saint, but a saint I am not.

Please listen to 1 of the best predestination sermons I've heard

Check out on iTunes- Calvary Baptist of Lenexa

God's Perfect Plan (36:31) by pastor Brian Albert

 

AT THIS LINK! 

 

  The highlight of this sermon is Paul's knowledge of official Roman "adoption" practices which is revealed in Eph 1 and Paul's connection of the doctrines of predestination and adoption.

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....So why didn't she save New Orleans, Jersey or Joplin from their natural disasters???

LISTEN UP RICK WARREN! You DO NOT teach the bible correctly.

Your Pastor Wants You to Marry a Prostitute?
 
I can almost hear it now. Picture the scene as lasers cut through the smoke. The blaring musics cuts out as the children’s pastor bounces onto the stage…



“Dare to be a Daniel!”   kids: YEAAHHHHHHH!
“Slay your giants!”    kids: YEAAAAHHHHHHH!
“Marry a Prostitute!”  kids: What’s a prostitute?
“Cook your food over poop!”  kids: MOMMY! HELP!



No, I haven’t completely lost it; I’m simply showing you the logical conclusion of some of the bad hermeneutics that are commonly used in the church. Here’s how we get it wrong:
1. Take a story about a heroic “bible character”
2. Make them the hero of the story.
3. Challenge the congregation to be that guy.

The problem?
1. That bible character was given objective marching orders from God.
2. The hero of that story, and of the bible, is Jesus. Jesus said it himself.
3. I’m not supposed to be that guy. God didn’t objectively call me to do their mission.
If I get this wrong, I make the story about me, I make myself the hero of the story, and I put myself on a mission I wasn’t sent on… and worst of all? I’m going to fall short. Not only is it a bad hermeneutic, it’s all law.



Wait, Marc, so you’re saying that the bible stories aren’t examples for me to emulate?
Well, let’s take a look:

Daniel in the Lions Den and David and Goliath have been Sunday School favorites for generations.   Why? Because God called them to do heroic things.  We’re predictable in that way, we’re always going to take the missions and promises that appeal to our pride.
If the hermeneutic of emulating the prophets is correct, here’s a couple missions your seeker-sensitive, purpose-driven pastor might want to cast out to the flock:

1. Go marry a prostitute. Maybe in the vein of “Dare to be a Daniel”, we could “Hope to be a Hosea”!  So, get to it.. go marry yourself a prostitute!

When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD.”
(Hosea 1:2 ESV)

2. Go ahead and start a family. And once you’ve got a few kids… she’ll leave you and the kids to go back to her old line of work. She’ll publicly humiliate you.
3. Write her off? Nope. Not only are you to track her down, not only woo her back, but actually buy her back at great price.

And the LORD said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley.

(Hosea 3:1-2 ESV)
So, “Hope to be a Hosea!”  Huh. That doesn’t quite work, does it?
How about another great prophet, Ezekiel:


1. Weigh out your food each day (about 2 cups of barley a day).
2. Measure out your water each day (about 2 pints a day).
3. Now, take your barley, make it into cakes and cook it over human poop.
“Eat like an Ezekiel!”
Wait, what?

And your food that you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; from day to day you shall eat it. And water you shall drink by measure, the sixth part of a hin; from day to day you shall drink. And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it in their sight on human dung.”

(Ezekiel 4:10-12 ESV)
(by the way, that picture of “Ezekiel Break” above? It’s real. No kidding, someone markets it. I guess they missed the part about baking it over poop. Unreal. You couldn’t make this stuff up.)
See the issue?  God hasn’t told you to do those things, he told them to do those things, and it wasn’t figurative, it was literal.

The point of these stories isn’t to make you stand up and be a hero, the point is to show God’s faithful love to his adulterous people (Hosea), and to foretell the destruction of Jerusalem, as well as God’s love in someday restoring her (Ezekiel).



The hero in these stories isn’t you. Ever. It’s God.  If you want to find yourself in the “bible stories”, you aren’t Hosea. You’re Gomer!
The law says “Be Daniel!”, the gospel says “You’re Gomer, and he’s tracked you down and paid your price!”

So, Daniel isn’t about you, and being brave like Daniel, it’s about God and his faithfulness to his people.



So, the next time you hear someone challenge you to “live out” the lives of the “bible stories”, to “Dare to be a Daniel”, or to “Slay the giants in your life!” ask yourself if you’re supposed to marry prostitutes and cook your after-church-lunch over poop.  Gross? For sure, but far less obscene than knocking Jesus out of his role in scripture so you can take the lead.
Think about it.
Marc

From churches that hate Jesus and all that atonement stuff!

American Pop "Christianity", is not Christianity at all

Are we worst than dogs?!

It’s as absurd as trying to teach a Pug to use an iPhone!

OK, it’s getting a big frustrating.  About a month ago, I bought our family dog, Boomer the Pug, an iPhone.  I’m trying to get him to use it and he’s just not getting it.  I’ve tried everything, treats, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, begging, pleading, ANYTHING.. but he’s just not getting it.   Maybe I’m a bad teacher. Maybe he’s just not very bright.  Maybe it’s the lack of opposable thumbs. Whatever it is, it’s frustrating for both of us… and I spent a lot of good money on that phone!

It’s as absurd as trying to teach a Pug to use an iPhone!

What are the implications?  Well, this is a major problem in the modern church.  We start our kids early by teaching them how to be “good”, we tell them to be “nice”.  What is nice?  We tell them to be patient, kind, gentle.. and to exercise self-control. To put others ahead of themselves, to share, to be considerate.  Sound familiar? Fruits of the Spirit!

New guy at church. He hangs around a few services because he likes the sense of community, digs the music, and well, there are some really cute girls.  He gets the message loud and clear: Be happy, be faithful, love each other.  Sound familiar? Fruits of the Spirit!

The problem?

Neither of them have been confronted with the weight of their sin, and been called to repentance and faith in Christ for forgiveness. The Apostle Paul tells us, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that they cannot manifest the very fruit we are demanding of them!

A stunning example of this happened recently when the creator of the most popular christian children’s material in history (Veggie Tales) said the following:

“I looked back at the previous 10 years and realized I had spent 10 years trying to convince kids to behave Christianly without actually teaching them Christianity. And that was a pretty serious conviction. You can say, “Hey kids, be more forgiving because the Bible says so,” or “Hey kids, be more kind because the Bible says so!” But that isn’t Christianity, it’s morality. . . .

And that was such a huge shift for me from the American Christian ideal. We’re drinking a cocktail that’s a mix of the Protestant work ethic, the American dream, and the gospel. And we’ve intertwined them so completely that we can’t tell them apart anymore. Our gospel has become a gospel of following your dreams and being good so God will make all your dreams come true. It’s the Oprah god. So I had to peel that apart.” – Paul Vischer, Creator of Veggie Tales

So, as much as people give me good-natured grief for somehow bringing EVERYTHING back to the gospel, here goes.. I’m bringing iPhone  Training for Dogs back to the gospel….

I’m not concerned about teaching my kids to “be good”, I’m concerned that they’re in Christ.  Because without being freed by Christ, they are unable to do the “good” at all.   Will they sometimes act like little heathens even after they are in Christ? Of course they will, and so will I in this fallen world. But we are freed, in Christ, to please God.

So as you go into your world today, don’t get frustrated that those in the flesh produce the fruits of the flesh.  Be aware that demanding that they manifest the very fruits of the Spirit is something they are entirely incapable of doing.  They’re still slaves. Their problem is that they aren’t in Christ.. and that’s something you can (and are commanded) to engage. Gospel much?

Marc

Don't be an Osteen, be a Christian!

The early church would have never fallen for his lies...

Well, in a single blog, I’m going to give you what you’re looking for.  What Rick Warren never delivers, and what your purpose-driven-pastor vaguely aludes to.. your purpose. Why you are here.
Ready?

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

(Matthew 28:18-20 ESV)

Salvation? Got it, thanks. What else you got for me, God? What do I get to DO? What am I supposed to do with my life? What’s God’s plan for my LIFE?”

Live in the land, take a wife, build a house, plant a garden… LIVE!  If you’re a carpenter, work at it as your vocation to God, giving thanks for your vocation and present the gospel to those around you.

Wait, that can’t be it! It’s not EPIC!

What on earth would make you think it’s supposed to be?  And more epic than living as an ambassador for the king of the universe?  Don’t get it twisted, this place is temporary. It’s going away. The kingdom is at hand, and if you confuse your mission with the priorities of this world, you’re going to be sorely disappointed.

The Apostles were martyred. The early church was persecuted and fed to lions. Onesimus was sent, by Paul, BACK into slavery.  Only in a prosperous, first world country like the United States could you sell people the drivel that God wants for you an epic, prosperous journey in this life.

So why is this so damaging?

1. Because it’s, at best, a wrong FOCUS on us and our awesome purpose (the second apple) instead of Christ’s atoning work on the Cross for our sins (the good gift).  I hear this constantly in evangelical, purpose-driven churches.. like “getting saved” is a box you check and then begin to seek out this great “purpose” for your life. This error is so glaringly obvious, only our narcissism could blind us to it. God gave you a mission (see the Great Commission above), and instead you’ve set off on another mission, a mission to find your great purpose.  So you’ve been given your marching orders by your King and have jettisoned them in favor of finding your epic purpose in life. Huh,  That can’t end well.

2. Because it creates unbiblical and unrealistic expectations.  Not only are we so naturally narcissistic as to expect this epic adventure, but when we are met with the reality that we might be, well, average and live a life of devoted vocation… we become disillusioned with God.

For those who misapply Jeremiah 29:11 as their “life verse”, here’s a thought for you;  The people that Jeremiah was writing to in that verse? They were in bondage.  How did they get there? God PUT them there. He raised up the Babylonians to punish them for their idolatry.  For those who didn’t think captivity was their “best life now” and didn’t go into captivity? God drove them out and killed them. Huh. Not so “best life now-ish” is it?  So, they stay in captivity for 70 years. Many of the original readers of this letter lived and died in captivity. And God’s instructions for how to live their lives?

Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the LORD.

(Jeremiah 29:5-9 ESV)

3. I see the wreckage left behind the purpose-driven movement every day; narcissistic, self-focused “Christ followers” who never speak of Christ, but of their latest self-help (or church) program or the “new thing” God is doing in their life. The latest fad-theology being sold at the christian bookstore (Prayer of Jabez ring a bell?) Some fuzzy, warm feeling they have of a not-yet-seen epic plan God has in store for them. I wonder what the captives in Babylon would have thought about this?  I’ve heard “pastors” talk about “shaking off” people who aren’t helping you move toward your purpose.  If there’s a less Christlike sentiment, I can’t think of one.

So to wrap it up, stop chasing the second apple. God isn’t doing a “new thing”, nowhere in the Bible does God say that your youth group, or college and career group is a “chosen generation” to do great things for God.  You are never, never, ever given the direction to “change your world” or “impact the world” in scripture. Never. The harsh, and beautiful truth is that you are an empty-handed beggar who was given the greatest gift of all, through no work of your own.  Your call is to spread the gospel of repentance and faith in Christ for the forgiveness of sins, to live a life of quiet obedience, and to ply your vocation to support your family and help the poor.  That may be in a position of great influence, or in quiet obscurity. It may be in Babylonian captivity, or the prison cells of persecution; Lions den, or Palace.  Epic, or pedestrian.

The gospel frees us form the sin of purpose-driven idolatry. From glancing past the greatest of all gifts to those “treasures” of a perishing world. Christs’ atoning work on the cross frees you to serve Him faithfully with little or much.  Epic or lame, the purpose remains the same.. The glory of His name.

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