Head-dibs

“For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you, with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you.” (2 Corinthians 2:4) When we teach the Bible, we come across many hard and difficult truths as we study. Truth is not easy to hear at first because in order to truly hear, one must listen and respond to God first and release our faulty presuppositions. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. If we are not humble then truth hits much harder--and this was the case with the Corinthian church--they refused to change. Paul says his tears are tears of love--his ministry would be much easier if they would only break. Yes, Paul is being severe, but this severity is only evident in the face of pride. His love for them does not change. He will be graceful if they are humble. How can a human being ( be it Paul or me or even you) deliver heavenly truth with such deep seriousness without hypocrisy...

Ever stand toe-to-toe to a situation and stare down the one hard fact that what you are about to face is not going to be easy? That it’s just gotta be difficult? Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians reveals the church was not responding well to Paul his heart was nearly broken. He’s been severe with them and despite his own near death experiences, this church didn't seem to care about him or it’s purpose. Paul writes, “But I determined this within myself, that I would not come again to you in sorrow. For if I make you sorrowful, then who is he who makes me glad but the one who is made sorrowful by me? And I wrote this very thing to you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow over those from whom I ought to have joy, having confidence in you all that my joy is [the joy] of you all.” (2 Cor 2:1-3) God did not allow him to come when he said he would and now Paul clarifies God’s plan for both him and them. After all, Paul wants what any pastor w...

“But I call God to witness against me--it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.” [2 Co 1:23-24 ESV] Someone observed that, while  we have many points of view, God has infinite viewing points. We only see a situation from a certain perspective until we chose to move and expand our view. God on the other hand sees everything all at once. Men may be blinded to seeing truth by varying shades of deceit, but God sees truth in the light. Being falsely accused of unfaithfulness in ministry, Paul addresses doubts held against him by calling God to witness his integrity. This is a beautiful truth concerning truth: it always stands before God. When Paul’s calling was called into question by those who sought to undermine his ministry, Paul called on God to witness his calling. When Paul was accused of using the ministry for personal gain, he called God to...

Struggling with what God has called you to do? Sometimes we find ourselves asking, “why did I start this in the first place?” That’s really not a bad question by the way, because our “why” is an excellent resource to help us keep going. If we can’t answer “why,” then perhaps we need a better “why.” Paul tells us why he continued in ministry, even in the face of opposition. “And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.” [2Co 1:21-22 ESV]. Paul’s “why” is rooted in Jesus, the God-given foundation of ministry, “it is God who establishes us with you in Christ.” This is the second time Paul fell back on his “why.” The first time was recorded in his first letter when he reminded his opponents of their position in Christ as “confirmed, blameless in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful through whom you were called into one fellowship with His Son, Jesus...

Criticism of the gospel ministry is nothing new (ol’ Solomon was right, you know: there is nothing new under the sun), so we can find great encouragement to remain faithful in all we do out of love for the Lord by considering how the apostle Paul rooted the defense of his ministry in truth. He writes: “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. But I call God to witness against me--it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.” [2Co 1:19-24 ESV] Paul is truthful in mini...

“Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second experience of grace. I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say ‘Yes, yes’ and ‘No, no’ at the same time? As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No.” [2Co 1:15-18 ESV] This is the first big sticking point in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. A couple of items to notice here. First, we can see by inference how Paul’s opponents watched him closely, taking the first opportunity to slander him. Paul said he would come and he did not so the enemy was there to plant seeds of doubt and dissension against Him. We have an enemy, who is the devil (Satan). He is the Father of lies. His business is the opposite of the business of Jesus. The business of Jesus is to build a church with king...

“For we are not writing any other things to you than what you read or understand. Now I trust you will understand, even to the end (as also you have understood us in part), that we are your boast as you also [are] ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus.” [2Co 1:13-14 NKJV]  The day will come when we will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ. Any ideas what you will say to Him? What will be your boast about your relationship to others in His Church? Are you able to rejoice in the ministry you have received? Will the things you say then match what you say now about the church? Paul’s attitude toward this church is not the same as the attitude this church has for Paul. They misunderstood Paul so they wrote him off. Paul prayed and gave thanks for them ( 1 Cor 1:4-9 ). Paul had already referred to the Day of the Lord Jesus 3 times in the previous letter, so this does not catch them (or us) by surprise. The day he refers to is not a day when a person’s salvation is decided, whether on...

Paul's ministry was misunderstood by fellow believers, but he did not treat them in a way that compromised The Faith. Rather, he showed them great grace. He says “For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you." [2Co 1:12 ESV] In the midst of misunderstanding, Paul says “toward you we conducted ourselves honestly.” He recognized that they were once in the world. There is a gentle reminder here: Remember when we came to you with the gospel as we did in all the world -- honestly, simply? We came in obedience to His Commission; you responded to HIM, not us. There is great grace in the midst of misunderstanding when we remember our sinful past how we first received the grace of God in Christ Jesus. Paul says “toward you we conducted ourselves in godly sincerity.” We did not soften God’s word for you but spoke to you as from God...

When the Apostle Paul was misunderstood, he did not plant his feet, grind his teeth and fight his opposers; rather, he spoke the truth with confident joy. “For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.” [2Co 1:12 ESV] Paul appeals to “conscience” (con = with; science = knowledge) the sense of right and wrong that God  put within each person. While some  may debate particulars of exactly “what” is right and wrong, we cannot miss the fact that the debate itself proves we have a concept of “right” and “wrong.”  Paul’s confidence in the face of misunderstanding is that He knows how God sees His heart. His joy lies in the fact that God’s got his six! He says, “we [act in a rejoicing manner] because of the way we conduct  ourselves in the world ”  We too can have a clear conscience in the way we minister in a wo...

A misunderstanding can be a tiny thing, but then so is a termite. A friend from Long Island told me of his experiences with the tiny bug: it’s blind, lives 48 hours and destroys everything. The damage of misunderstanding is not easy to repair. The start of a new year is often the time most people want to get back in shape. Interestingly, as “out of shape” as many may be, we have eight well-worked and very “in shape” muscles--they are found in the tongue. Flex it just right and an entire reputation is destroyed; ones’ good motives are suddenly transformed into evil motives; dignity is stripped. It’s not true that sticks and stones only break bones. Words hurt. The tongue can stab people in the back without shame in broad daylight. Often the victims slowly bleed to death without knowing they were wounded. Then CSI comes (Christ, Spiritual Inspector) and He finds the victim sitting in their car in the church parking lot wondering what just happened in that conversation. The weapon b...

( part 3 ) Some say he means nothing by it, but what if he really does? The Apostle Paul was inspired by God to start nearly every letter he wrote the exact same way: " grace to you and peace ". It’s difficult to imagine how God would inspire someone to write empty words that mean nothing more than, “howdy.” Would he not have used different words other than "grace and peace" if he meant something other than these? “Grace to you.” John R.W. Stott defines grace as “Love that cares and stoops and rescues.” This describes a goodness of God that man can never earn because man does not deserve it. What is most striking about grace is that grace is not a “thing” but is an attribute of God -- grace is part of who God is. God has two kinds of attributes: those He shares, and those He does not. Attributes God does not share include Omnipresence (He is present everywhere all at once); Omniscience (He is infinite in knowledge); Omnipotence (He is all powerful and does wh...

We are considering the second letter Paul wrote the Corinthian church, whom he addresses “to the church of God.” Christ’s ownership is clear: this is God’s church, not your church, my church, not Paul’s church. We exist because of Christ, the builder, and we are a living body, the legislators of God’s Kingdom, a group of people (not a building) called out of the world by common faith in Jesus as risen Lord. Paul is busy locking down the business of hell so the church can do what the builder intends! Here we touch on the very reason Paul was inspired to write this letter. This particular church has rough edges to be knocked off so the living stones can fit together. The “church of God” fulfills the purpose of God.       The story of The Church blossoms out of Christ’s story: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Cor 5:21). Christ’s suffering and glory is the Church’s suffering and glory: ...

Paul does not write to the Corinthian church alone for we find in the opening verses, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother” [2 Cor 1:1 ESV]. Immediately we discover that Paul’s concerns for the Corinthian church are shared. What do we know about Timothy? A little study will show that Timothy and Paul are peas in a pod. Timothy’s mother mother was Jewish and his father was Greek. (Acts 16:1 and 2 Tim 1:5). Timothy was also follower of Christ, probably a convert from Paul’s first missionary journey which included Lystra, a Roman colony with Greek Culture that was home to Timothy. Paul calls Timothy, “ our brother.” A few verses down we learn that Timothy was with with Paul during his initial ministry in Corinth (see v. 19) then later sent back by Paul to continue ministry in Corinth; however, his ministry was not successful so he was replaced by Titus. Yet Paul calls Timothy “our brother” . Two thoughts: First, Timothy was part of ...

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” [2 Cor 5:10 NASB] Buildings under construction require inspections at different stages. Specialists representing the government who carry State certification or specialists representing the International Code Council (the people who set the codes) check to make certain the plans match the workmanship. Is the foundation sound, secure and is the structure properly attached?  Are the right materials being used? wood, hay, stubble?   In the process of building, has any damage occurred?  Is the mechanical equipment in place and working properly?  Is the electricity & Plumbing connected? Does it flow properly? Is this a place of safety, functioning as intended by the Master Builder?  Judgment Points to the Divine Position of Jesus, The Builder of the Church, as judge. He has e...

“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life.” (2 Cor 2:14-16) Christ is building His church, a feature not to be kept hidden in a personal showroom but always on display, a demonstration of yet another great thing He has done. Triumph cannot be contained--it must be spread. Notice the text, saying: “God . . . through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.” Interesting that the triumph of Christ is described in the context of the five senses, specifically, the sense of smell. Smell is the way we tell people apart. You can tell a clean person from an unclean person by smell. Anything fresh, clean is appealing, has a good smell while others bear smells that bring ...

(2 Cor 1:3-5) “ Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ .” Someone said that when Jesus was born, his first cry was God’s way of saying, “I got this. Everything’s gonna be alright.” I read a story recently of a 15 year old boy who was admitted to the hospital due to a high fever. Turned out the young man had leukemia and endured blood transfusions, spinal and bone marrow tests, and chemotherapy. Then he developed pneumonia. For five days his mother stayed in his hospital room. The only words they heard from the doctors were in the plain terms and seriousness of his disease. Though he had never been in the hospital before, he looked around his room then finally sai...

Not quite certain how it all got away from me, but it did. I’ve not written much lately for blogging or for personal journaling (besides recording daily events--boring), but that does not mean I’m not busy. I am a husband, father and as of October--a grandfather, again and again. The last four years have been filled with the curly-headed laughter of one grandchild, now we have two more. Both born within two weeks of each other. Just the other day, I held our month-old grandson and asked him when he was going to start making fairies (it’s a Peter Pan thing, a family thing) and I kid you not when I say he actually gave a tiny giggle. Honestly, I am still trying to get used to the idea of more grandchildren (there are people everywhere around my house!) but am thankful for each and every one of my family members--especially the love of my life, my wife. I am one person managing two Seminary offices is not easy; but I am thankful--ever so thankful--I have this ministry. I am th...

Church History (as seen by independent fundamental baptists) [ht: Reformed Humor FB Group]

Many of the characters in Lewis Carroll’s stories were suggested by the illustrated tiles that decorated the fireplace in his study at Christ Church, Oxford. Springs in the Dead Sea ! " German group pinpoints new types of microorganisms growing in fissures on the saline seafloor near the springs, university announces." Thabiti Anyabwile comments on Multi-site churches . My two cents: nice idea, but then so was New Coke. Galatians, Gospel Indicatives and Gospel Imperatives . A sermon of 42 points. The Gospel according to Jonah . Clear hints of the gospel in unexpected places. How to Keep a Long Commute from Wrecking Your Healthy Habits .

Recently I read of Ci, a Border Collie that has developed a fear of sheep. Imagine! A sheepdog afraid of sheep! The only way the shepherd is able to keep the flock from getting the upper-hand (stamping their feet and ganging up) is to get behind the herd with dog, call the sheep, and when the sheep approach, the dog runs off in the direction the shepherd actually wants to go! Now imagine a pastor that is driven by his congregation--flock-driven, if you will. Not hard to do, is it? Sadly this is the condition of many churches today, with ovinophobic leaders. This is not leadership at all—and the congregation becomes not-sheep, but . . . well, I’m not sure what they are, but they are not sheep. The Apostle Paul regards the Ephesians in a special way—he gushes with gratitude for this church. He says in his prayer concerning them, “ For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks ...