Category: Pastor Tim’s Blog

In 1980 I read a book for the first time called The Cost of Discipleship. The author was a German theologian named Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I actually chose it because, on the reading list, it was the shortest and cheapest of the books I could choose for theology class! That confession is now done. Dr. Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran theologian who, in his mid-thirties, was hung by personal order of Adolf Hitler for a failed assassination attempt. While awaiting execution in Flossburg Prison, Bonhoeffer continued writing and his books were smuggled out and later published by students and former church members. One of those books was an expository study of the Beatitudes entitled, The Cost of Discipleship. The book has several phrases that make it famous now eighty years after its release. The idea of “cheap grace” came from this book. It is, according to its author “Grace without repentance.” Grace, according to Dr. Bonhoeffer, is not free. It’s costly. It cost the Father everything to give it. Cheap grace is no grace at all. I have been fascinated by Bonhoeffer though more for his stand against the ruling party of Germany and against the popular whims of culture that pressured him and other pastors in Germany’s anti-Nazi “Confessing Church.” They would not bow. They would not comply. They would not conform to the world. So they went to prison, ripped from their homes and seminary classrooms and pulpits while preaching. And they took their stand, some even to death. How instructive for our day. And I wonder how long before we will face our Bonhoeffer moment…and I wonder will we stand as he did? Another phrase from the book has always given me pause. For Bonhoeffer it was prophetic. He said “When Jesus calls a man he bids him come and die.” (Luke 9)

What will our Bonhoeffer moment be?

Yesterday was an amazing day in the life of Fruit Cove Baptist Church.  A couple of hundred baptismal candidates, family, and church members gathered on a hot (!!) day at Mickler’s Landing to witness the ordinance of Christian baptism.  A large number of these folks were brand new Christians…young and old(er).  A number were from our Student ministry. It was a joyous day fighting the fiercest waves yet of any of our beach baptisms.  In all, 32 folks braved the Atlantic waves to profess their faith in Jesus Christ as their Risen Lord and Savior.  In addition, another eight or ten pastors, deacons, and helpers were also immersed (but they don’t count).  It was, as said before, a time of joy.

Nothing brings excitement, anticipation, and the reminder of our mission back to us like a baptism.  Whether it’s one or several dozen, a baptismal service centers us, calls us out to the main thing…sharing the Gospel…and re-orients us to reproduce.  “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)   With those important words, Jesus called us to “live sent.”

But the baptism isn’t the end. Like the birth of a baby, it begins the arduous process of learning to eat, to walk, to speak, to live.  It requires a family to nurture these things and to protect, model, and guide the newest among us.  And, like a family we model for them what living with Christ should be.

So if you’ve never seen a baptism, especially one at sea, let me encourage you to make a point of coming next time.  It’s incredible!  And if you’ve never been baptized Biblically (by immersion…under water… after you profess faith in Jesus) then come and be baptized and in that way show obedience and allegiance to Jesus.  And if you know one of these who were just baptized, the next time you see them… rejoice in what they have done.

…it’s the most important decision of their life!

Frank Sosienski was a postman in Louisville, Kentucky, who didn’t want to deliver some of his mail. Perhaps it was the hot summertime, like we’re experiencing now. Maybe the mail was heavy; maybe he wanted to quit his route just a little early each day. In any case, there were eventually complaints about mail not arriving, and they traced the problem back to Frank. When the postal authorities investigated, they found the mail that was missing. Most of it was in Frank’s attic. You see, over a six-year period he stashed away 15 tons of other people’s mail. They discovered over 1200 bags of undelivered mail in Frank Sosienski’s attic.

While much of that might have been “junk mail,” we are still shocked that a person whose life is defined by the motto that declares a clear dedication to a task can so easily walk away from his commitment.  Yet I wonder if we know that this is how we look to our Lord?  We have made a commitment that, no matter the cost, we will follow Jesus.  And then, when trouble or inconvenience or hardship or just a better offer comes along, we hide our commitment in the attic and go live however we choose.

It is easy to lose heart and grow weary in well doing.  But we must remember that we have been called to an important task, one that affects many others in its wake.  Let’s “stay at the stuff” of delivering the message God sent us to bring, remembering that at the end of the day

… a lost world is waiting to hear.

What is God saying to you?  I know that, for some, that is either a deeply personal question or one that sounds too “spooky” to take seriously.  Yet God is a God of communication.  He continuously speaks… but do we continuously listen?  Sometimes we are too busy to hear.  Oftentimes, in our noise-drenched society, we are too noisy to hear.  And other times, we are too stubborn to hear.

The first reason is a sin of misplaced priority.  The second reason is a sin of distraction.  The third is a sin of rebellion.  All rob us of blessings, wisdom, and leadership that God longs to give His children.  Like Elijah the prophet, sometimes we miss God’s voice because we think it will come in some dramatic way like a bolt of lightning, or, in Elijah’s case, like an earthquake or a hurricane.  But we must learn, as Elijah the prophet did, that God’s voice comes in “quiet stillness,” out of the deepest recesses of our heart, in places where only we and God can meet.

Do you ever listen for the voice spoken from within your own heart?  Every voice we hear in our minds is not a voice of truth, and is not even necessarily a voice that needs to be paid attention to.  And yet, in the chaos of our days, in the despair of difficult nights, in seasons of doubt and fear… God speaks.

The question is, “will we listen to what the Spirit is saying..?”

In his book The Way of a Worshiper,  the author gives the following definition of repentance:

Repentance is not a once-in-a- lifetime commitment.  It’s not simply an apology with a promise to do better. 

Repentance is a whole new  lifestyle.

Repentance is a determination to change the way we live – to stop, turn around, and head in a new direction.

Repentance is cooperating with God in the transformation of our character.

Repentance is a heart posture that is reflected in the choices we make.

Repentance is an act of worship.

Repentance is not something that happens once at our conversion to new life in Christ.  It is a mindset, a determination, to continue to turn from sin and to turn toward God from this point on until Christ comes back or we die.  Repentance is an act of worship, according to the above definition.

But, like worship itself, it is an action that never ends.

June 26, 2015 will go into the history books as the day America changed. For those who celebrate same-sex marriage, it was a day of celebration. For the opponents of same sex relationships, it was a day America took another downward turn morally. While no one seemed really surprised by the SCOTUS ruling, I have heard and read some things that seem to point to despair among believers and supporters of traditional marriage.
So for them, I write the following. Here are some things the Supreme Court could not change on Friday:

(1) God rule is still sovereign. He is still in control. He did not find the ruling Friday to be a surprise. He is not Twittering His opinion today. God still rules and reigns. “God is on His throne…He is seated in the heavenly places.” (Psalm 11:4) God has not lost control of the universe. He still turns the hearts of kings and leaders in the way He wants them to go. God is sovereign. He rules. He reigns. He is still the King.
A.W. Tozer said “What we think about God is the most important thing about us.” Remember that God still rules.

(2) God’s Word still stands. It has not changed. “Heaven and earth will pass away. My Word shall not pass away” Jesus reminds us. The Word of God says that homosexual behavior is wrong. It is wrong. Always. Whether in a “loving, monogamous relationship,” a pseudo-“marriage” or a random encounter. It is wrong. It’s not wrong to love anybody. You can love whoever you want to love. But you can’t have sex with anybody you want to. That’s sin, whether hetero-or homosexual, whether you are living with another person in a same sex or even a heterosexual relationship and having sex with them outside of Biblically defined marriage…It is wrong. The Bible still calls it sin.

(3) God’s opinion still wins. God’s opinion plus nothing=a majority. God’s opinion on the subject must be the one we consult. God does not change. He is the same “yesterday, today, and forever.” God’s opinion… God’s definition of marriage did not change Friday. It never has. It never will. Jesus said “from the beginning God made them male and female….” And marriage was created with that in mind. (Matthew 19). The SCOTUS did not invent marriage. Government can’t reinvent marriage in its essence. They cannot change marriage. They cannot define marriage. They cannot control our teaching about marriage. And the majority of people deciding they like something doesn’t mean their opinion wins. God’s kingdom is not a democracy.

(4) God’s mission still continues There is nothing new happening in this ruling… nothing different in our culture regarding the homosexual agenda… that the church has not had to face before. (1 Corinthians 6:9-12) We are not worse off than we’ve ever been. Many of the letters written making up our New Testament were written to help the church deal with a fallen culture. Homosexuality is just a symptom of the illness. The illness itself is simply sin. “All have sinned….” A Puritan writer said “The seeds of every sin are within the heart of every person.” There are no new sins. And sin always leads to the same outcome unless we are redeemed: Death.

This ruling should spur us on to “love and good works,” to intensify our efforts to see the world won for Jesus, and to remind us clearly that the time is at hand and the coming of Christ is drawing near. We must redouble our efforts to preach the Gospel to the nations….

No matter what the culture does.

More than half a century ago, Christian philosopher and author Francis Shaeffer released a groundbreaking book entitled How Shall We Then Live?  By tracing through history, philosophy, theology, and the arts Dr. Shaeffer outlined the rise and the ultimate demise of Western civilization.  Much of what he predicted has already come to pass, and some things that have come to pass he could never have predicted.  What is at stake in our day is as critical as what was at stake in the first centuries of Christian thought. In the earliest years and through the Reformation, Christian writers and thinkers were concerned primarily with one subject:  Who is Jesus?  What does it mean to be ‘virgin born’?  What does it mean to be “one with God”?  What is the Trinity?  How is Jesus both God and man?

Today, the subject has turned from that of seeking out the nature of Christ to something else of great importance:  What is man?  How is humankind to be defined?  Are we created, or accidental?  Does life begin at conception, before conception, or after birth?  What happens when a person dies?  What defines Biblical personhood?  Can we arbitrarily decide we were “assigned” the wrong sex at birth, and take steps rightfully to correct the “mistake?”  What constitutes marriage?  Can two same-sex people become married in a Biblical sense?

All of these questions demand a thoughtful, articulate, Biblical, and definitive response.  We are long past the day when we can say, “Go ask the preacher” or “because I said so”.  We must give loving, yet correct answers to instruct our children how to live in Western civilization as it is declining around us.  And we must define from Scripture what these things mean, whether or not the Supreme Court or any other entity agree with our definitions.

To paraphrase Dr. Shaeffer, “how shall we now live?”  Living lovingly yet as those who stand for truth in our culture has never been harder.  It is certainly more difficult than it was in 1950, 60, or 70.  But we must stand unapologetically upon the Word of God which never changes (“My Word will not pass away”) and yet address a confused and broken world with truth spoken in love.   How shall we then live?

Like Jesus.

Just like Jesus.