Ask Dr. White

The Ministry of the Deacon

2012-03-05T15:42:00.003-06:00

As the young church began to grow in Jerusalem, the Apostle’s ministry was spread thin. You likely remember the story, how certain widows of Greek origin were being overlooked in the daily serving of food. The social, economic, and governmental structures were completely different than our own day. This was long before Franklin Delano Roosevelt had ever invented Social Security. In Jewish life, the synagogues took care of widows and orphans financially, and this practice was adopted by the early church. However, a very real problem arose when certain widows of the congregation were being overlooked. To solve the problem, the Apostles initiated a need-meeting ministry, and in Acts 6 we have the prototype of the modern day Deacon. There are debates on whether or not the seven men of Acts 6were the first Deacons. Whether Deacons or not, we do know that between Acts 6and 1 Timothy, the office of the Deacon was established in the church.

The seven men who were chosen inActs 6were literally “table waiters.” They were men who would ensure that the Windows had all of their physical needs met. This is the beginning of the ministry of the Deacon.

What does Deacon mean?

The word Deacon is a transliterated, not translated. There is a big difference! A transliterated word is borrowed into the English language. One of the most important transliterated words in the English language, as it relates to the church, is the wordbaptize—the Greek word that literally means to be immersed. I’ve often wondered if we would have debates about infant baptism had we translated rather than transliterated the word. Deacon is another important transliterated word, that is, a word borrowed into the English language. The Greek word Deaconos literally means servant. This makes for a quite simple understanding of the office of Deacon; a Deacon is a servant.

From time to time I’ve heard Deacons say “we are just protecting the church.” Early in my ministry, I was grateful for these men and their desire to protect the church. As I began to mature in experience and knowledge of the Word, however, I came to realize that protection of the church is not a function of the Deacon. God has created an overseer for the church, and that is the Pastor. Deacons are servants, Pastors are overseers. This is one of the most fundamental understandings that Pastors and Deacons must share in order to have a positive and Biblical Deacon ministry.

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The Kingdom Error

2012-02-23T11:07:00.002-06:00

One of the most pervasive doctrinal errors in the church today pertains to the Kingdom of God. This error is so systemic within the church that it is almost universally accepted. In this article, I want to point out the error, highlight the damage of the error, and correct the error.

Matthew 6:33says, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33, NASB95). What is His Kingdom and how do we seek it?

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When the Pastor Sins

2012-02-21T14:43:00.000-06:00

Having previously developed the understanding that God has one ordained office of leadership within the church, namely the Pastor, and that the Pastor is a single position, not a board, and that this position has built-in checks and balances that need no man-made addition, we turn now to the subject of pastoral failures. Does a church have recourse when a Pastor fails?

The Bible teaches about the discipline of the Pastor by the body itself. Because the pastor is merely a man, though one called to a holy task, there is the possibility that he may become involved in sinful activity. Remember, the safeguards of a strong calling, an easily led congregation, the love for the Pastor, and the foot-washing spirit of the Pastor himself will most often provide the guard that is needed to keep a Pastor living a holy life, and leading in a godly manner. But when these fail, and sin takes root, the congregation as a whole becomes the body of discipline.

Two simple verses in 1 Timothy outline the discipline of the Pastor by the congregation. “Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses. Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning” (1 Timothy 5:19–20, NASB95). These words must be the basis for any action against the Pastor by the church or its members.

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Judge Not!

2012-01-31T15:14:00.001-06:00

Few verses are more quoted than Matthew 7:1, “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” The verse is almost always misquoted and misused. As far as I can tell, no English translation has the words in this fashion. The King James Version says “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” While this made-up version says the same as the good English translations, the fact that we so continually misquote it is indicative of our misuse of it as well! The verse is almost always quoted (or misquoted) in a judgmental fashion, and with the understanding that the verse gives an absolute injunctionagainst ever expressing a judgment.
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Killing the DoDemon

2011-12-28T16:31:00.001-06:00

With the advent of the New Year, one Satan’s craftiest emissaries goes to work: the DoDemon. This demon, like the work of his master, covers himself in righteous wrap and spills forth spiritual sounding words in order to woo the Lord’s faithful to do something, regardless of the will and work of God.

The DoDemon gives believers the DoSomething syndrome. It often looks like this:

A monthly meeting is coming up. Though there is nothing on the agenda, the Chair feels inadequate with what seems to be a purposeless meeting. The DoDemon goes to work in his heart, and he feels he and his committee must DoSomething.
A family has an evening without homework, meetings, ball-practice, or late work, but the DoDemon sneaks in and the family creates another hectic evening because they “need” to DoSomething.
A church is not growing like the one down the street. The Pastor has read the church-growth books, has been to the denominational seminars, and has heard the common consensus that this would all change if he would just DoSomething. Congregation members, eaten up with the DoDemon, are also pressuring him to DoSomething, making an overwhelming DoSomething wave come upon him.

The DoDemon has so many tools in his satchel:

DoSomething else—this tool works by using the leverage of dissatisfaction and lack of contentment.
DoSomething more—a tool that has its basis in human ability, believing that “just a little more effort” would make the difference.
DoSomething different—What you are doing may work, it just isn’t working well enough.
DoSomething new—This tool works best in a society that rejects the ways of their fathers.

Like all the work of Satan, the DoDemon memics the ways of Christ, so his work is often hard to quickly decipher. Our Lord was not a DoNothing Messiah. His work, however, was guided by the Father, who told him when it was time to do something! It appears that there were many times when, by modern American standards, Jesus just needed to DoSomething:

He was 30 years old before he began to DoSomething! Think what he could have achieved had he worked harder to promote himself in earlier years. He could have really done something!
He had a line of sick people atCapernaumwho needed healing. He chose to leave to another villiage. Think of the ministry He could have established if He had just DoneSomething.
In the midst of a storm at sea His disciples woke him, shouting, “DoSomething!”
He could have called 10 legions of Angels to rescue him from the cross. Why didn’t He DoSomething!

It makes me wonder, if Jesus had a group of modern, corporate Executive Coaches, would they have given the same advice His Father gave? Something makes me think they would have created mission statements, agendas, action items, goals and objectives. They would have categorized priorities, challenged supporters, and organized laborers. They would have DoneSomething!

But that wouldn’t be “my Father’s business.”

When you feel the urge to use the DoSomething tool, consider these unfortunate accounts of spiritual giants who succumbed to the temptation:

Abraham and Sarah became impatient and decided to DoSomething, and brought Hagar into the home. The effects last to this day.
Moses became impatient and decided to DoSomething. In the end, an Egyptian was dead in the sand and Moses would spend the next 40 years as a fugitive.
Saul became impatient and decided to DoSomething when the Priest had not arrived. By hastily offering the sacrifice without the Priest, Saul lost the throne.
Peter acted on impulse and drew the sword. His DoSomething action was rebuked by the Lord.

There are, of course, some notable occasions when God’s people waited on God. David would not kill Saul because Saul was “God’s Anointed.” He would leave God’s work to God! The Apostles obeyed the command to wait inJerusalem, and the fruit was well worth the wait.

As you enter a new year, you may be tempted by the DoDemon and his DoSomething tool. It is almost foreign to Western thinking to do nothing. We are programed to action, committed to achievement, and stubbornly leery of meditation, prayer, and waiting. I am convinced that most churches would be far better off if they would quit doing something and start walking with the Lord, letting Him be the Great Doer. But, since Pastors feel the need to justify their salary and defend their leadership, they DO. Church-members encourage the Pastor’s “DoLeadership” and criticize any lack of action on his part.

“We can’t just sit here” are words that have been heard by every pastor. “We have to DoSomething!”

I wonder…would we be better off just to sit here?

“Be still, and know that I am God.”

www.RandyWhiteMinistries.org

The most disgusting picture I've ever seen, and why

2011-11-16T13:43:00.001-06:00

I recently saw a Facebook post of a photograph by Michael Belk. The picture turned my stomach, and the caption made me angry. The photo was that of an actor portraying Jesus, carrying the gun and knap sack of a Nazi soldier, presumably the “second mile” (which is the name of the photograph). The caption (not added by the photographer) said, “love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you,” and referenced Matthew 5:38-48.

The picture was meant to be a powerful reminder of Christ’s love and of our need to forgive, even our worst enemies. It was, however, woefully, terribly, and disgustingly misinformed and misguided. It was a picture which, I’m sure, the Devil himself would enjoy hanging in his office.

I am offended by the picture on so many fronts. The long-haired hippie style Jesus would have quickly been rejected in the Jewish world in which he lived. Long hair was anathema to Jewish males in the first century. Even the Romans wore short hair (as can be seen in any statuary or art depicting the Roman Emperors). I’m not sure that there is any benefit in trying to depict a face we have never seen. We know from our own experience that our personal accuracy in doing so is dismal. The tendency toward iconism makes me hesitant to embrace pictures of Jesus. But, if we are going to have a depiction of Jesus, it should at least be a more accurate depiction than the common long-haired Jesus.

But were it just the long-hair, I wouldn’t be writing this article.

The picture has Jesus walking with a Nazi officer down a pastoral scene which looks something like the Big Sky country of Montana (I’ve learned the photograph was taken inItaly). Had the artist any desire to be more historically accurate, he would have placed them in the Nazi death camps, with some of the six million naked, emaciated, starved-to-death or gassed-to-death bodies of innocent Jews piled eight feet high in the background. Or perhaps a scene from the edge of one of the trenches where fellow Jews were forced to dump the bodies of their family—dump them by the thousands—so they could be covered up, nameless, for the world to forget, so that the Nazi officer could continue on in his perfect Aryan society: blue eyed, blond haired, and Jew free. Would you be so inspired by a picture that portrayed such historical accuracy?

Should we want to get truly historically accurate, the picture would be of the Nazi soldier taking the gun and shooting “Jesus” point blank in the face, with no remorse, regret, or even hesitancy. Then we would see the officer walk away, leaving the bloody Jew dead on the path.

This disgusting and inaccurate picture is an example of how brainless the Christian world has become today. We have overdosed on teachings of love and kindness. We feel compelled to send Ahmadinejad flowers to express Christian love. We express remorse over the death of Osama bin Laden. We use effeminate voices to talk in tender tones about forgiveness, mercy, and love. We refuse to consider context and the totality of scripture when we post Bible verses like Matthew 5:38-48.

Would we consider putting as the caption to the picture, ““Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces” (Matthew 7:6, NASB95)? After all, these words of Jesus come from the same sermon!

The arrogance of using Matthew 5:38-48 in this situation is the result of very poor Biblical interpretation. For me to personally forgive the Nazi regime is totally misguided. Outside of the ripple effect, I have no interaction with the Holocaust. It is like me forgiving your wife’s rapist on her behalf. A scripture that is meant for personal application can only be applied personally. There are scriptures which apply to governments, others to individuals, others to certain members of the household, others to religious leaders, etc. When we misapply scripture, we have a misguided teaching that always leads to error.

At the root of it all is a method of interpreting scripture that is so inaccurate that it has created a “Christianity” that is not reflecting the God who is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. If our Christianity cannot adequately incorporate God as revealed in the Old Testament as well as Jesus in the New Testament, then our faith does not find its foundation in the Bible. We have created a god of our own liking, labeled him the god of the Bible, and fooled ourselves.

This article is available in a downloadable PDF with enhanced graphics. Click here.

Life After Death: What Happens When a Believer Dies?

2011-11-04T06:48:00.001-05:00

The water was slowly dripping from my umbrella as I walked through a light sprinkle of rain after finishing a grave-side service. With each step on that long walk to the car, my mind wandered from the pit of the grave to the doorstep of heaven. I do not know whether my mind was triggered by the pain of losing a close friend, the look of despair on some of those at the burial, or perhaps the dreary nature of the day, but I was now fully consumed by thoughts of the afterlife. Questions I’ve heard so many times before started flooding my mind: what happens when a Christian dies? What does it mean to sleep? Are Christians stuck in the ground until the rapture? As I again pondered these questions, my heart began to find great comfort and hope in the clear words of Scripture.

Though this scene I just described is not from a graveside funeral that I am thinking of specifically, it remains a familiar scene, I’m sure, not only for me, but for many other pastors as well.

I believe that all Christians can and should know with confidence what happens to a Christian after death. There is such hope and a great promise that cuts through the gloom and provides assurance, even when you are in the midst of dealing with the rainy storm of death.

A great verse to look at when considering the physical death of a Christian is found in1 Thessalonians 4:13: “we do not want you to be uniformed about those who are asleep….” Following this verse, Paul proceeds to tell us what happens to Christians when they die. The answer is two-fold: one answer for the soul, and the other for the physical body.

The Bible is very clear about what happens to the soul—the spiritual part of life, including the mind, emotions, and will—following death. Plainly stated, the soul of a Christian goes immediately to be with the Savior. The sin of the believer has been completely removed in Christ and the righteousness of Christ fills the soul of the believer (see 1 Corinthians 5:17-21). The beauty and immediate nature of being with the Lord after death is envisioned by those word of Jesus on the cross to the believing thief: “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me inParadise” (Luke 23:43). And so shall it be for all those who have trusted in Christ Jesus.

Paul goes on to say that “those who have fallen asleep in Jesus” will return “with Him” (1 Thessalonians 4:14). That is, every Christian who dies, having placed their faith in Jesus Christ for their salvation, will be with Christ upon His return to earth. Since we know they are going to return “with Him” then we also know that they are currently “with Him.” This is why Paul says that our grief is not like “the rest, who have no hope.”

But, quite obviously, the body does not go immediately to heaven. The body becomes an empty vessel; the person is “absent from the body” while the soul is “present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). So then, what happens to this body which is absent its soul? Well, that’s really quite easy–the body begins to decay. You were created from dust and to dust you shall return (Genesis 3:19). This decay process, however, is only temporary. The body is planted like a seed, and shall rise again one day in new life (1 Corinthians 15gives more background material for the resurrection of the body, based on the resurrection of Christ).

When does the body of the believer rise again? We are taught in1 Thessalonians 4:16that when the Lord descends and the trumpet is sounded, that the “dead in Christ shall rise first.” At that time, “we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them.” Interestingly, we get the word “rapture” from the Latin translation of “caught up.” So, at the rapture, when the souls of the dead in Christ descend with Christ, their bodies are resurrected and rise “to meet them in the air,” and there is a glad reunion of body and soul.

It never is easy coping with the death of a loved one. Yet, when at the cemetery, be reminded that soon (it could be any day!) the trumpet will sound, the dead in Christ shall rise, and those who believe in the Lord Jesus will be caught up, and be forever in a glad reunion with Christ and those we love who “have fallen asleep in Christ Jesus.”

This promise and hope, however, is only for those who are Christians. Thankfully, becoming a Christian takes no effort on the human end. All one must do is have faith (another word we could use is trust). Trust in what? Trust that the death of Jesus Christ was the satisfactory payment for the consequence of your sin nature—separation from God forever in hell. He died in your place. Trust also that Jesus Christ conquered death by rising from the dead which offers us the promise of resurrection as well. Turn away, then, from whatever else you currently are trusting in to bring peace with God, and turn to Jesus Christ alone for your salvation from the consequence of sin. Ephesians 2:8-9says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Where have you placed your trust? There is a tremendous promise and a glorious place that will turn the storm of death into the hope of life, but only for those who trust in Christ alone. For, “behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

This article is available for download in PDF format here.

Why I Believe in Believer's Baptism

2011-10-25T20:40:00.003-05:00

I was recently asked a question about baptism and sanctification that stumped me. Upon investigation, I learned that the one asking the question came from such a different angle that we were practically speaking a different language.

Baptism in the protestant world varies from adult baptism (more accurately, believer’s baptism) to infant baptism (called pedo-baptism by theologian types!). Today, “baptism” is done by dunking, pouring, or sprinkling. It is done in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (except within Oneness Pentecostalism where their incorrect view of the Trinity leads them to baptize only in the name of Jesus). Those who dunk mostly do so by leaning backward, but some (e.g. the Brethren Church) lean forward. Most who dunk do so one time under three names, while a few do so three times, once for each of the persons of the Trinity. Keeping all of this in mind, we see that, even though Baptism is fundamental for Protestants, there is no consensus on the correct manner of baptism.

I contend, however, that baptism can be done incorrectly and should be weighed heavily. Let’s consider the candidate, the conduct, and the context of Baptism.

The Candidate: Who should be baptized?

There are really only two options for baptism: infant or “adult.” Adult baptism is a misnomer. I know of no group that truly only baptizes “adults.” Rather than speak of adult baptism, we should speak of Believer’s baptism. In that light, the two options we actually have are unbeliever’s baptism and believer’s baptism.

Unbeliever’s Baptism: The Baptism of Infants

Since the days of Emperor Constantine’s “conversion” to Christianity, infant baptism has taken root in the church. When church and state were married, entrance into one was entrance into the other; the Roman Empire became “the Holy Roman Empire;” baptism became the birth-certificate for the empire. Since one could only be a citizen of the empire if they were a member of the church, infant baptism became a political necessity.

Church leaders, of course, could not make such a radical change in baptismal rites without first creating a theological base, so they went to work creating a doctrine of infant (unbeliever’s) baptism. This doctrine would require two elements: Biblical example and Biblical teaching.

They ran into trouble right from the start, realizing that there simply is no Biblical example for unbeliever’s baptism. No New Testament scripture speaks explicitly of the baptism of infants. Those who support such baptism typically refer to scriptures which speak of the “whole household” (Acts 16:31-33) being baptized, but such reference is threadbare, at best. Since they could not find examples in the New Testament, they turned to the Old Testament and found the sign of circumcision. Borrowing the sign of the land covenant God gave to the children of Abraham, the new theologians of the Holy Roman Empire declared Baptism to be a new covenant circumcision.

Problems with this are numerous. First, it dishonors the real covenant that was made with the children of Abraham and sets aside that everlasting covenant, replacing it with the church. It was not by mistake that those who practice infant baptism are almost never pro-Israel (Zionist) in outlook. They are steeped in a tradition which took the most basic sign and seal of the covenant with Abraham and adapted it to their own political needs. Replacement theology in which the church became the New Israel is only a short step from here.

Second, circumcision was given only to male children. Girls were recipients of the covenant through their fathers and husbands. The adaptation of circumcision into baptism ignores this fact.

But the biggest problem with the morphing of circumcision to baptism is that there is no theological or Biblical justification. Circumcision belongs to the Jews; the covenant remains in effect; it has not been set aside. The Abrahamic Covenant, symbolized in circumcision, is not the Old Covenant. It is that Law that has been fulfilled, not the Abrahamic covenant. To use the rite of the Abrahamic covenant as foundational for a New Testament observance is robbery of that which God has given to the Jews.

Biblical teaching is on even more shaky ground than the Biblical example. There simply isn’t any. Thus, those who believe in infant baptism create a doctrine of “sealing” in baptism. The Westminster Confession of Faith states it this way: [Baptism is] a sign and seal of the covenant of grace, of his ingrafting into Christ, of regeneration, of remission of sins, and of his giving up unto God, through Jesus Christ, to walk in newness of life. Further, it is to be given “Not only those that do actually profess faith in and obedience unto Christ, but also the infants of one or both believing parents”

This statement has huge problems, especially when connected to earlier verbiage in the statement, where Baptism is “unto him [who is baptized] a sign and seal…of regeneration…” If it is such a seal, why is it given to those who have not yet been regenerated, remitted of sins, given up their lives to God through Jesus, experienced walking in new life, etc.? This point seems clearly to say that Baptism of the infants of believing parents produces “his engrafting into Christ.” Such thought would, of course, be heresy. The statement attempts to deny such a charge by stating that “The efficacy of baptism is not tied to that moment of time wherein it is administered.” However, it goes on to say, “yet, notwithstanding, by the right use of this ordinance, the grace promised is not only offered, but really exhibited and conferred by the Holy Ghost, to such (whether of age or infants) as that grace belongeth unto, according to the counsel of God’s own will, in his appointed time.” How one can hold to any efficacy in baptism for the conferring of Grace is beyond me, and well beyond Scripture.

Believer’s Baptism: A display of faith

Believer’s Baptism, properly viewed, has no “sealing” effects whatsoever. Believer’s baptism is totally symbolic in nature, displaying the object of faith for the believer. Unbeliever’s baptism is based on circumcision as a sign and seal of the covenant. Believer’s baptism is not based on Jewish circumcision, but rather an outgrowth of Jewish Baptism.

When John came preaching and baptizing, baptism was not a new observance. Those being baptized in the Jordan were not being baptized for the first time, and they were not surprised by baptism nor did they view it as a new and unique observance. Baptism had been common among Jews for centuries. It took place in the micvah, as well as rivers and other bodies of water, and was ceremonial in nature. It was symbolic of repentance and cleansing.

But John’s baptism is not believer’s baptism. This is clear in Acts 19:3-5, where those who were baptized by John were baptized again. John’s baptism was Jewish, preparing the nation in repentance for the arrival of the Messiah. Believer’s baptism is an outgrowth of Jewish baptism, but symbolizes the object of our faith rather than the outcome of our faith. That is, true believer’s baptism is a proclamation of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Conduct: How should Baptism be carried out?

The mode of Baptism must portray that which is proclaimed. When a believer is immersed, the death, burial, and resurrection is visibly portrayed. That portrayal is the foundation of the salvation of the believer. The Westminster Confession says that, in Baptism Dipping of the person into the water is not necessary; but baptism is rightly administered by pouring or sprinkling water upon the person. I would, of course, have to totally disagree with this. The English word Baptism comes from Greek word (baptizo) which means “to dip”. I’m not sure how you can say “Dipping is not necessary when dipping.” Saying that baptism is “rightly administered by pouring or sprinkling water” is simply making up your own rules out of thin air. Scriptural baptism is never anything besides dipping or plunging. Modern “baptism” includes pouring or sprinkling, but that only came about after the close of the New Testament.

Baptism, to be true to grammar, must come through dipping, that is, by total immersion. This is the only mode that is portrayed in the New Testament as well as in the archaeological remains of ancient Judaism.

Not only is immersion necessary for scriptural baptism, but because it is a proclamation of faith, it must be done after a person’s faith has been placed in Christ, recognized, and confessed by the baptismal candidate. In Acts 8, after the Ethiopian Eunuch heard and responded to Philip’s proclamation of Jesus from the Old Testament Scriptures, the Eunuch saw water and wanted to be baptized. When he asked, “What prevents me from being baptized?” Phillip’s answer was “If you believe, you may!”

The Westminster Confession says that those who actually profess faith in (and, interestingly, adds obedience unto Christ to the profession of faith) should be baptized, but continues to say also the infants of one or both believing parents are to be baptized. Since the confession has already stated that Baptism is a sign and seal of regeneration and a person’s ingrafting in Christ, it comes dangerously close to saying that baptism produces the regeneration and ingrafting. Any idea that infants should be baptized can only be drawn by inference from scripture references which speak of families and households being baptized. The confession goes on to speak of the efficacy of baptism for such infants. While such efficacy (the word means “inherent power”) is not tied to that moment of time wherein [baptism] is administered…the grace promised is not only offered, but really exhibited and conferred by the Holy Ghost to all to whom such grace belongs according to the counsel of God’s own will. I wonder why, if such grace is coming and will definitely come according to the counsel of God’s own will, it would need Baptism to confer such grace.

The Context: What does Baptism mean?

Baptism is not a seal. The Holy Spirit is the only seal we have in salvation. Baptism is rather a symbol of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is the object of our faith. When an individual becomes a believer, their desire for proclamation and obedience combine to display the work of Christ in a public way that forever signifies them as saved under His work, not their own. “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4–7, NASB95)

Note that the washing of regeneration was not done by baptism, nor on the basis of deeds which we have done, but was a matter of God’s grace.

Baptism is a display of God’s grace in the work of Jesus Christ by the one who has professed faith in Christ. It is done by immersion, after salvation, and for symbolic reasons. Such are, and always have been, the criteria of Scriptural baptism.

This article is available free, with enhanced graphics in a downloadable PDF here.

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Holocaust Survivor Helen Colin

2011-10-24T21:16:00.000-05:00

Helen Colin survived the Lodz Ghetto, Auschwitz, and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps. On Sunday, October 16, she shared her experiences with First Baptist Church of Katy, TX.

Born in 1923 in Poland, she was one of only 1.5% of Polish Jews who survived the holocaust. She lost much of her family before she was liberated by British troops on April 15, 1945, her 22^nd Birthday.

Helen, like most Polish Jews, lived a happy life through childhood. When the war began, however, things drastically changed overnight. Helen’s family moved into a small, 3 room apartments in the ghetto, shared by two other families. It was in the ghetto that Helen’s father died of starvation. Finding her dad in a pile of dead bodies, Helen and her sister dug a grave for him with her bare hands, wrapping his face in her sweater before covering the body with the dirt.

When she thought things could get no worse, the rest of the family was transported to Auschwitz. It was here that Helen saw her mother for the last time, in a fleeting moment, with a hand-blown kiss.

Helen Colin gave her first speech about the Holocaust only three days after liberation. The British troops gathered the German public in front of the grave pits, each holding thousands of dead bodies, and Helen was selected to share her story. Since then, she has shared her story thousands of times over the 66 years of freedom. Each time she shares, her tears flow, and the audience is moved.

Audio CDs of Helen’s story are available for $5.00. Click here to purchase.

Developing a Generous Spirit

2011-10-15T08:46:00.002-05:00

Dr. Randy White

www.RandyWhiteMinistries.org

I've never met anyone who was proud of being stingy. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever met anyone who even admitted to being stingy. But in spite of our penchant against admitting stinginess, I have met many stingy people! It seems that we are born with a clenched fist, and we struggle to release the grip. Our natural born material philosophy becomes “Get all you can, can all you get, and sit on the can!"

How can we develop a fist-opening attitude and release the material possessions which we hold to so strongly? How can we develop a generous spirit?

In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he instructed them to gathering an offering for the saints in Jerusalem. On the first day of the week, the Corinthian believers were to set aside a free will offering that Paul would then take to Jerusalem. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians gives believers today an incredible insight into a generous spirit. This article considers Paul’s teaching in 2 Corinthians 8:1-7.

The Setting

You may remember that Paul and Peter had a strong disagreement over the theological matter of circumcision. After dealing with the disagreement in a healthy way, we learn in Galatians 2:10 that the leader of the Jerusalem church, the Apostle James, gave a plea, "Don't forget the poor." Paul was very faithful to this heartfelt cry of James.

Perhaps at the time of the confrontation James was already foreseeing the day when the Jerusalembelievers would be in dire straits financially. Christians had been ostracized by the Jewish population for their acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah; no friend was found in Rome either. The believers had lost families, homes, businesses and careers. Some had even lost their lives. When famine set in, the believers of Jerusalemquickly became the hardest hit. For the modern American believer, this may be hard to understand because we live in an environment in which the church, with all its flaws, would still act as a safety net if our world began to collapse around us. To understand the plight of the believers in Jerusalem, consider a native born believer in one of the radical Muslim countries of the Middle East. Already on thin ice, if push came to shove, they would quickly be shoved.

In Romans 15:25-27, Paul expresses his belief that the Gentile believers, owing their spiritual existence to the Jewish believers, have a great financial debt to these Jewish believers. The churches of

Macedonia

, for example, were the first to aid the Jewish believers. These Macedonian churches were continually portrayed as generous churches.

The Source

From where did the generosity of the Macedonian churches arise? Paul attributed their generosity to one thing: GRACE. Paul begins his discussion about the Macedonian generosity by saying, "we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of

Macedonia

When we hear the word grace we typically think of saving grace, but, in this passage, this is not the kind of grace in mind. Rather, Paul speaks of the "manifold grace of God." One of the graces of God is the grace of generosity. Just as you have sought the grace of God in salvation, you should seek the grace of God in generosity.

The Scene

Having been given the grace of generosity, the Macedonian believers had an abundance of joy, though in deep poverty (2 Corinthians 8:2). In math, a negative combined with a positive has a negative effect, whether in multiplication or addition. Without grace, the positive (an abundance of joy) would be offset by the negative (a deep poverty). In addition, we are told that this positive and negative overflowed in the life of the Macedonians "in a great ordeal of affliction." Now we have a positive and a negative flowing through a negative filter. In any kind of natural situation, the two negatives would have completely eradicated the positive. This however was not a natural situation because the grace of God was added into the equation. In spite of the odds, the negative and the positive flowed through a negative filter and God's grace caused it to miraculously overflow into "the wealth of their liberality." In fact, they were so generous that they gave "according to their ability, and beyond their ability."

In the story of the widow’s mite, the rich benefactors of the temple treasury gave "out of their surplus." The widow, however, gave "out of her poverty” (Luke 21:4). In the same way the Macedonian believers gave "beyond their ability." They were not forced to do so, nor were they placed under a guilt trip by the Apostle. Rather, they "gave of their own accord,” even "begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the Saints" (2 Corinthians 8:4). They so longed to express the grace given to them that they begged for the grace of participation in the offering.

The Support

Outside of God's grace, what was it that motivated this generosity on the part of the Macedonian believers? A key support structure is given in 2 Corinthians 8:5, where we are told, "they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God." The Macedonians had sold out to the Lord and to His Apostles, enabling them to generously release the few possessions they had.

Have you ever noticed that it's easier to give away someone else's money? I don't find it difficult to be generous with other people's stuff! As children we were this way. As long as it was mom and dad's money, we thought nothing of spending it like there was no tomorrow. But if it was our allowance, we suddenly became miserly. When the Macedonians gave themselves to the Lord and his Apostles, they actually freed themselves to generosity. No longer were they giving their own money, now they were giving the Lord’s! And the Lord is rich in houses and lands, holding the wealth of the world in his hands! The Macedonians found themselves in the wonderful position of being distributors of God's wealth.

Have you ever given your possessions to the Lord? Have you ever relinquished control and become a steward rather than an owner? Have you ever removed your name on the title deed of your possessions? If you have not, I venture to guess that any giving you do is done grudgingly and under compulsion. You may give large amounts of money, but it is likely for reasons of guilt or some perceived spiritual legality. What a wonderful difference it would make if believers around the world relinquished control of all their worldly goods to the Lord Jesus Christ. One of the old poets said it well –

Nothing that I have, my own I call.

I hold it for the Giver.

My heart, my strength, my life, my all,

Are His and His forever.

The Sermon

Paul brings it to reality when he says, "we urged Titus that as he had previously made a beginning, so he would also complete in you this gracious work” (2 Corinthians 8:6). The offering instituted by Paul in his first letter was now to be collected. It was time for the Corinthian church to make good on their pledge.

Paul encouraged the church in the abounding of faith, in their proclamation of the Word, in their Biblical knowledge, in their zeal, and in their love. He wanted them to abound in the work of generosity as well. Though I have my doubts, I hope that it could be said that the church today abounds in faith, proclamation, knowledge, zeal, and love. My fear is that our faith is thin, our proclamation is timid, our knowledge is pitiful, our zeal quickly runs dry, and our love, if it is there at all, is displayed in particularly hateful ways! And if we have failed to abound in these spiritual virtues, we have certainly failed to abound in the working of generosity as well. The average gift of the average churchgoer is just a smidgen of what would have been given under the law.

Would you join me in the prayer that God's grace of giving would so abound in us that we begin to overflow in a wealth of liberality, in spite of the odds?

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The Creation of a Wimpy Jesus

2011-10-07T15:21:00.000-05:00

Dr. Randy White

Somehow, someway, our society has created a wimpy Jesus. Whether it's an artistic rendering with paint from a brush, or literary license with ink from a pen, the pictures of Jesus show him as subdued, effeminate, calm, pale, and ghastly. When did Jesus become sick, emaciated, gaunt, and weak? Is this the real Jesus?

Reading from the first chapter of Mark, we see that Jesus attracted certain kinds of people around him. John the Baptist, for example, was strong in style, drew a huge crowd, spoke in no uncertain terms, had a huge strength of political opinion, and was unflinching even in the face of the king himself. But when Jesus Came His Way, John stopped everything and said "the one coming is mightier than I" (verse 7).

Or consider Simon Peter and his brother Andrew. They certainly were no pushovers. Simon was strong in words (“everyone may flee you but I will die with you”). He was strong in actions; remember that sword in the garden of Gethsemane? Both of the brothers were strong in their career, living by the sweat and sinew of a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee. Yet, when Jesus comes their way, they drop everything and follow him (Mark 1:16 – 17).

Continuing in Mark 1, the twelve-year-old Jesus enters into the synagogue. As he begins to teach, those who listened to him were amazed at his understanding, but what amazed them even more was that He spoke with great authority. I don't suppose I've ever seen a twelve-year-old boy impress church officials with his command of Scripture and authoritative teaching.

As Mark continues the first chapter of his gospel, he tells about a man possessed by a demon. This demon was filled with strength, "throwing him into convulsions." But when the strong demon saw Jesus, he feared, crying out, "have you come to destroy us?” The strength of Jesus was so much greater than that of the demon that Jesus simply said, "be quiet, and come out of him!"

Before the chapter is over, "the whole city had gathered at the door." From their homes, across the hilltops, by the seashores, and over the desert they came: publicans, sinners, the rich, the poor, Roman Centurions, businessmen, homemakers, men, women, boys, and girls. Did all of these gather to see a weak man? Hardly, they gathered to see one who was strong in spirit, personality, zeal, physical strength, and so much more.

When they all gathered together to see this strong man, Jesus said it was time for him to move on, going to other nearby towns to preach. Nobody held sway over Jesus; nobody manipulated him or dominated him. Even though the people wanted a King, and practically begged him to be their king, he would not become their king without national repentance. While some people may melt around their friends, and others may melt around the crowd, Jesus was the picture of strength wherever he was. In the real Jesus there was no variation or shifting of shadow. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. No wonder the songwriter said, "rock of ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee.”

Today's image of the weak Jesus has created a weak church. It is a church where tolerance has become the code. It is a church that is forced to be "sugar and spice and everything nice." This is all supposedly done in service to the one, when he disagreed, he said so. When He was angry, He showed it. His character was one of strength, authority, and power. Some hated Him so much that they couldn't hear his Name without hissing, sizzling, boiling. Only a strong person brings about that kind of reaction. Others loved him to the point of giving everything to him. Only a strong person brings about that kind of reaction.

The last words of the Star-Spangled Banner say this, "then conquer we must, when our cause is just, and this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’" This is the attitude of strength that brought victory to the American way for over 235 years. This attitude of strength must now become the attitude of the church if it is to become victorious in its role of making disciples of all nations.

Will you join me in proclaiming a strong Jesus?

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Still A One-State Solution!

2011-09-20T07:14:00.000-05:00

Dr. Randy White

www.randywhiteministries.org

With this week’s upcoming action at the UN, where Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas is likely to seek statehood status, it is time for us to revisit the issue of what should happen in the Middle East from a Biblical and a political perspective.

The answer is simple: Let Israel Win! Support Israel to the end. Support the governance of Israel over the land and peoples of Israel and Palestine. Support Israel's right to defend herself and to expand her influence in the region. A one-state solution with Israel as that state is the only real answer to the real problems of Palestine.

It is a simple answer, so why is no one giving this answer? Israel increasingly stands alone in the world, a nation without supporters. Its strongest ally, the United States, no longer holds to an Israel-Must-Win policy, but rather supports a two-state solution which will never work.

If you consider the facts, a one-state solution (that one state being a strong Israel) is the perfect solution and makes perfect sense. Consider what Israel has done in her 63-year history—

Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East, and a well-functioning democracy at that! Of the 16 nations of the Middle East, an annual study of democracy by Freedom House has consistently showed Israel as the sole nation receiving a classification of "free,” with all its neighbors being “not free.” The Middle East is full of one-party states, monarchies, and despotic regimes. The “Arab Spring” of 2011 has caused turmoil in these dictatorships, but it is evident that improvement toward democracy is nothing more than a mirage. A two-state solution only promises to add another freedom-lacking dictatorship to the list of Middle East countries.
Israel is the only nation in the Middle East that supports basic human rights. Human dignity and liberty are at the foundation of Israel's basic laws. While Israel is often maligned for human rights abuses by pro-Palestinian sources (such as the U.N.), Israel is worlds ahead of the remainder of the Middle East in providing basic liberties.
Israel is the wealthiest nation in the Middle East in spite of the fact that it is the only nation without oil. Israel is third in the world with the number of companies listed on NASDAQ. The Gross Domestic Product of Israel has so outpaces its neighbors that one would be hard-pressed to give explanation for the misery of the Middle East. Israel is number 15 of 169 on the United Nation’s “Human Development Index.” The next Middle Eastern country that appears on the list is the United Arab Emirates (with a minuscule population and tremendous oil reserves), standing at 32 of 169.
Israel has the greatest military in the Middle East and in most of the world.
Israel has created the greatest educational system in the Middle East. (22% of Nobel Prize winners are Jewish, while only a tiny fraction of the world's population is Jewish). Israel is home to seven of the top ten universities in the Middle East. Israel provides free public education with a choice: secular public education, Jewish public education, or Arab public education. Ninety percent of Israelis complete 12 grades, compared to 77% of Americans. Israel's literacy rate is the highest in the Middle East at 97%, compared to Saudi Arabia's 78%.
Israeli companies develop the fundamental technologies of the technological revolution in which we live. If you use Windows, instant messaging, cell phones, firewalls, or have phone service through an internet connection, you use Israeli technology. If you have had any kind of surgery or major medical care, you have been blessed by Israeli technology.

If you put Israel in the desert, it blooms. If you put Israel in the military, it wins. If you put Israel in the boardroom, it prospers. If the world will allow Israel to govern Palestine with unquestioned sovereignty, then peace and accompanying prosperity will come to the region and its beleaguered citizens.

So, why not support a pro-Israel policy that seeks the expansion of the Israeli state in Palestine? Israel itself is not anti-Palestinian. It has done everything it can to provide for the Palestinians. A great number of Israeli's are Arab-Israeli—Israeli citizens of Arab descent who live, work, and worship in Israel with freedom, even having their own political party and representatives in the Israeli parliament. (For those who argue the “demographic problem” as a hindrance to a one-state solution, click here. ) Israel could govern the Palestinians far better than Palestinians have proven able (or willing) to do. The answer to the problems in the middle-east is not a two-state solution, but a one-state solution, and that state being a strong Israel. Only modern Israel has been able to provide an environment of peace and prosperity for Palestinians. Why not go with the one proven factor in the Middle East? If Israel can provide for Jewish Israelis and Arab Israelis and Palestinian Israelis, why not support a strong, one-state solution in the West Bank and Gaza that is governed by Israel?

Such a solution is unlikely to happen. This world is Impetuously and recklessly determined Israel-bashing. Europe has a disdain for Israel. Academia grovels in hatred for Israel. News-media are unabashedly unbalanced in relation to Israel. Even the most responsible governments and world leaders are supportive of a two-state solution, despite the fact that it has failed more times than any other foreign policy initiative in history while being given more opportunity, funding, and cooperation of world governments. The list of pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel crusaders is staggering. Mainline denominations, homosexuals, peace groups, campus organizations, and on and on the list goes of groups who would immediately be banished from a Palestinian state but are, none-the-less, pro-Palestinian.

What is behind this? It must be the Devil himself. Satan knows that Israel is the Apple of God's Eye. Satan knows that God has chosen Israel as the Promised Land. Satan will do all he can to poke his finger in God's eye and thwart God's promises to His chosen nation.

When you join in pro-Palestinian attitudes or actions, you join the work of Satan—even if unknowingly. When you stand with Israel—her right to exist and to expand—you stand with God, who promises a blessing for those who bless Israel and a curse to those who curse Israel.

"And what one nation in the earth is like Thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem for himself as a people?" I Chronicles 17:21

As for me and my house, we will stand with Israel.

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Why I Will Never Say Hooray When You Say Hep, Hep

2011-09-09T22:39:00.002-05:00

Dr. Randy White

http://www.randywhiteministries.org

Many times the things we say are thoughtless. Sometimes the enemy, Satan, has made them that way.

Soon I will be hosting a seminararguing that we have forgotten the message of the stars (to receive this seminar on CD or MP3, click here). I believe that God wrote the Gospel in the sky, but the devil perverted the message beyond recognition. This is an example of Satan taking a positive and powerful message and causing its meaning to be so lost that the message is no longer communicated.

Conversely, Satan sometimes takes a powerful negative message and causes its meaning to be so lost that the message continues being communicated, even by those who would be horrified to know what they were saying.

In the year 70AD, Rome entered Jerusalem, utterly destroying the city. A few Jews escaped, running for their lives, when Titus halted for a brief respite before ransacking the city and plundering the temple, leaving it in such ruins that not one stone was left upon another. A small band of Jews remained in rebellion at Masada, the former Dead Sea fortress of King Herod. They died some three years later after what was an embarrassingly expensive and difficult military attack for the Romans.

After a few years passed, the Emperor Hadrian became much more sympathetic to Jews, allowing them to return to Jerusalem in 118AD. This sympathy, however, did not last long. Soon Hadrian went back on his commitments and even shipped Jews out of Jerusalem to North Africa. So the Jews began to defending themselves by forming contingents of soldiers that hid in caves, sabotaging the Roman army whenever possible while preparing for guerrilla warfare.

The Jewish condition under Hadrian continued to decline to the point that in 132AD he changed the name of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina and began to build a temple to Jupiter on Temple Mount where the former Temple once stood. Refusing to stand by and watch, Simon Bar Kokhba began to lead a rebel army that was, at first, successful against the Romans. In the end, however, the Romans so outnumbered the Jews that they surrounded 985 villages and starved the Jewish heroes until they were too weak to fight. The remaining Jews fled to the Jewish stronghold of Bethar where, on the ninth of Av (which was the date of the destruction of the first and second Temples), Hadrian’s army engaged them in a fierce battle that left every Jew in Bethar lying dead. The war was essentially over. Rome plowed Jerusalem, changed the name of Judea to Palestina, and prohibited all Jews from entering their God-given homeland. The final Roman destruction of Israel was completed. (Information gathered from http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/revolt1.html)

When Hadrian returned to Rome, he stated, in Latin, Hieroslyma est perdita,that is, “Jerusalem is destroyed.” The response was the celebratory “Hooray!” This Latin phrase became a common greeting among anti-Semitic Romans, and in time was shortened to HEP. When greeted with HEP, HEP, the “patriotic” response was “Hooray!”

Through the years, most American’s have changed HEP to hip, but the roots are the same. Satan has done such a work that few, if any, recall the meaning of these bloody and anti-Jew words.

In the early part of the 1800s, riots against Jews began in Wurzburg, Germany and spread across Europe. Historically, these are called the “Hep Hep Riots” because “Hep Hep” was the anti-Semitic rallying cry.

Is it any mistake that to be “hip” today is to be informed, up-to-date, aware of the times? Linguists agree that hip came from hep, and historians agree that hep came from HEP--Hieroslyma est perdita. Satan has worked to make “hip” a great thing.

But now you know!

So when I hear “Hep, Hep!” my response will be “NEVER AGAIN!”

Dr. Randy White

This article is available in a downloadable PDF here.

Proving the existence of God

2011-09-04T22:00:00.000-05:00

Dr. Randy White

www.randywhiteministries.org

Arguing God’s existence has seemed like a futile attempt for many. How do you argue the invisible? Should you argue that which takes a gift of faith to believe? Is there logical evidence for the reality of the Supreme Being we call God?

An old Hymn speaks about the joy of our faith in the risen Christ. The songwriter answered the question regarding the existence of the living Christ by saying, “You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart!” While those of us who have been indwelt by the Spirit of God can attest to this reality, such and answer is subjective, and really a non-answer for those who sincerely seeks knowledge.

So how can we answer the question of God’s existence? To use the Bible as some proof or evidence would be unfruitful, because the one asking the question likely has no faith in the Bible. Why would an agnostic have any confidence in Scripture? So is there any evidence outside of Scripture for the existence of God? While our understanding of God’s character, plan, and will, can only come from Scripture, evidence for an Ultimate Being exists beyond Scripture.

Right or Wrong?

While the starting place may seem obscure, the existence of morality is prime hunting ground for God’s existence. So let’s begin by asking if there is such a thing as objective morality. Circumstantial morality is of no question, nor consequence. Clearly, “what is right for you” or “what is right for the time” is part of everybody’s experience. But is there outside, verifiable, right-for-everyone morals?

I recently read one skeptic who, in arguing against objective morality, said, “If morality is truly objective, we would all have the exact same morals.” While this seems true at the outset, it quickly becomes an illogical statement. For example, consider these statements—

· If math is truly objective, we would all have the exact same math.
· If science is truly objective, we would all have the exact same science.
· If grammar is truly objective, we would all have the exact same grammar.

And while, as you begin, you may want to say “We do all have the exact same math” I would challenge you to remember your High School geometry class. The teacher taught the theorems and postulates (they are objective, right?), and you used them to answer the problems. But, you didn’t all get the exact same answer. Why not? Isn’t math objective? Isn’t there only one math? Is math subjective? Here’s the point: math is objective, but you didn’t all get the same answer because some of you were wrong! Sometimes you were carelessly wrong, sometimes you used the wrong theorem, sometimes you forgot an important step, but regardless how you got there, your answer was wrong. The objectivity of math has nothing to do with the answer you gave! That answer is subject to the manner in which you handled the object.

So trying to disprove the objectivity of morals by pointing to the subjectivity of behavior is pointless and illogical. Are there some things that are truly wrong? Regardless of behavior, response, circumstance, childhood trauma, mental condition, or physical reality, are there some things that are truly wrong? If so, then there is such a thing as objective morality, and we are on the way to proving the existence of God. Perhaps this is one reason why so many in our society promote the evolutionary concept that only allows for situational ethics. If right and wrong exist, then we are headed on a pathway to God.

Who made these commands?

Somehow, somewhere, something or someone made “right” comparatively different than “wrong.” We have “commands” (objective morals), so a commander must exist (whether that commander is a person, place, thing, or event). Was there a council of Neanderthal men who set the right and wrong standards, or was it earlier than such a supposed man? Were the standards set in place by the manner in which the elements went bust when the big bang banged? How did these commands come about?

Evolution has an interesting contradiction in the area of morality. Since evolution is “the survival of the fittest,” then it would seem that strength is right. But most who teach evolution also teach that bullying is wrong. Why this disconnect with evolutionary mindset? Perhaps the evolutionist would have us believe that “we need to cooperate to survive.” While this sounds nice, what about altruism—that behavior that puts the wellbeing of others before your own? If evolution is really right, then it would demand that we begin to teach “might makes right.” Strength, after all, is the only sure hope for the survival of the species. If we teach altruism, we are teaching our own death!

Evolution has no answers for this inconsistency. An evolutionary process clearly did not bring about the values we carry today. Something, someone, someway has commanded right and wrong. While we do not yet know, in our process, who/what this is, it does lead us to the next step. We will call this someone/something/somewhere/somehow the “commander” of morals.

If there is a commander, we would expect to see order.

If someone/something is making moral commands which are based on his/her/its own standards, then he/she/it must have some kind of intellect. The ability to “order” society demands a thought process. If he/she/it has intellect, then we would expect that this order would display itself in other areas of our life and universe as well.

And, not surprisingly, we live in an unbelievably ordered universe. From the macro to the micro, every element of existence seems to have a set path, function, and place. We could write a book on the detail of order in our world, from the molecular level to the most distant reach of the universe.

Would you be surprised if summer came next December? What if the sun rose at 10:00 tonight? Would there be any surprise if the moon’s dark side finally turned our direction? What surprise would there be if the earth flipped, and north became south and south became north? These would be surprising (a most irresponsible understatement) because there is order in our world. We are not surprised by order because we know that ultimate right and wrong is objective. So someone/something made those commands, and he/she/it must have had some intellect which would surely display itself in other matters beyond morality.

If you have order, you must have a cause.

It would certainly be freakish to believe that all the order we see in the universe happened accidently. Something certainly causes summer in the Northern Hemisphere to arrive in June and not in December. Whether it was the serendipitous manner by which the elements landed by chance when flung from their speck of dust from which the universe supposedly began, or it was the hand of an Intelligent Designer, or something in between, the fact is that life as we know it did not “just happen.”

Why are these letters which you read on a page? Because I have placed my finger on the appropriate key on the keyboard, and some binary function has caused certain pixels on my screen to change colors. Eventually I will send this binary code process I have begun to a printer that will cause droplets of ink to land in a very precise way upon a piece of paper. Clearly, there has been a cause, and one which I have oversimplified. To deny cause and effect is to commit intellectual suicide.

If there is cause, there must be an ultimate cause.

Can the cause and effect go on forever, like looking at two mirrors facing each other? Is an infinite “reflection” possible? Even the most prominent atheists and evolutionary adherents believe there must have been some cause. Many refuse to think of it beyond the speck of dust or, more recently, the arrival of crystals that they believe made up our beginning, but what caused that speck or those crystals? What caused the explosion? Even Richard Dawkins, the 21^stCentury’s most blatant anti-God scientist, carries the claim of possible alien invasion which planted the seeds for life. Why would such a dignified scientist carry such a hair-brained idea? Because he knows that causes run into a brick wall, and that an ultimate cause is eventually essential.

If there is an ultimate cause, it would have to carry ultimate characteristics.

This “first cause” necessitates eternality. He/she/it could have no beginning, or we would need to go back further in our search. He/she/it could also have no ending, or that which was caused would have no further basis of continuation. What we have with the ultimate cause is the Ultimate Being. We have God! Our Ultimate Being would have to have ultimate characteristics, and one of the chief components of these characteristics would, by necessity, be existence. How can the Ultimate Being be ultimate if he/she/it does not exist?

So God exists. From this point one could certainly argue the character, style, wishes, will, purpose, and activity of God, but could not logically claim there is no God.

For this reason and a thousand more, I believe God exists!

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Bringing Judgment: How to increase your time before the judgment throne.

2011-07-30T01:39:00.001-05:00

Believers today often forget that they will be judged for their works. Many have simplified life into “saved” and “unsaved,” and forgotten that God has more than two categories! There certainly is a judgment for eternity that only has two destinations—heaven or hell. However, every individual, regardless of destination, is also judged for their works in life. 2 Corinthians 5:10 reminds us that “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.”

James 3:1 speaks of a “stricter judgment.” In Greek, it literally means a “mega-judgment.” Interestingly, Scripture gives us at least five ways we can place ourselves, or be placed into, a position of “mega-judgment.”

Become a teacher

Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. James 3:1

God reserves a mega-judgment for teachers because of their great influence. If the teacher performs his duty well, this judgment will result in positive rewards. On the other hand, if the teacher begins to tickle the ears, ignore the hard realities of truth, and teach for the acclaim of his audience, he will lose rewards and receive punishment.

I believe that James’ focus here is on the pastor/teacher. There are two ways in which a man can become a pastor/teacher: he can place himself there, or he can answer a call from God. The one called must answer (to ignore the call would likely bring a mega-judgment as well, though the scripture does not specifically mention it). He must carry out his call with integrity, keeping his mind on the possibility of judgment for incorrect teaching. There are also those who place themselves in a ministry position without a call. This is foolishness on many fronts. In light of the mega-judgment, those who are called as Biblical teachers should accept the call, and those who are not called should fear the coming judgment. It is always important to remember that with great responsibility comes great consequences when abuse happens. There is the reality of mega-judgment for those who are teachers.

Place yourself into prominence

“…and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation” Mark 12:40.

Some people live well in the spotlight. This is not a bad thing for the world truly does need leaders! Those in the position of prominence, however, often grow increasingly comfortable as the “go to” person or the “E.F. Hutton” voice. In many ways, the one who has placed himself/herself into prominence has the same judgment as the Teacher. Perhaps this is why Paul teaches us to “work in a quiet fashion” as we do our good works (2 Thessalonians 3:12-13). If you are the “go to guy/gal” in your church, take extra care in your personal walk and worship so that you do not lose sight of the One you serve, and before whom you will stand.

Remove yourself from authority

“Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves” Romans 13:2.

Paul was specifically speaking of governmental authority, but plenty of scriptural teaching and implication would justify using this verse in a wider context. Whether it is the authority of the home, church, or state, it is a weighty matter to ignore such authority.

We live in a nation drunk on independence. The “me generation” grew up and had kids, and now we have the “me society.” There are some healthy sides to this independent spirit. For instance, it has saved us from the excessive dependence on government that has plagued so many other nations of the world. But, as with almost all freedoms, there is a point at which it becomes out-of-sync with God’s plan of authority. God never intended human beings to live as an island unto themselves.

When you remove yourself from authority, you often justify it with some savvy argument. Beware of this justification. I see this from a church perspective all the time: a parishioner is unhappy with a leadership decision or direction so he or she moves to another church, becomes unfaithful in attendance and giving, or becomes cantankerous in word and deed. When a church-member does this, they bring the condemnation of the leader upon themselves.

In most cases, an errant leader is to be followed. God places the principle of authority over the principle of perfection in leadership. If the leader is clearly unbiblical, Scripture gives the means of addressing the matter.

Hinder the Gospel of grace

“I have confidence in you in the Lord that you will adopt no other view; but the one who is disturbing you will bear his judgment, whoever he is” Galatians 5:10.

Paul’s context in Galatians 5 is the legalistic influence of those who wanted to bring the Old Testament Law into the New Testament church. He makes it clear that these “Judaizers” will face judgment for leading others astray from the Gospel of grace.

To be a stumbling block is serious business. To burden believers with the untruth of legalism is serious business. In fact, the first Christian council was convened to address this very issue (see Acts 15). The grace of God through Jesus Christ is so glorious that it is worthy of mega-judgment when we say, do, or teach something that is dishonoring to the Gospel of grace. So remember, proclaim grace and live a grace-influenced life.

Be harsh in your judgment of others

“For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you” Matthew 7:2.

The Apostle James taught us that “mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13). Judgment, however, comes much more naturally than mercy! From the beginning mankind has been more judgmental than merciful.

The warning of Jesus in Matthew 7 is powerful: when we heap judgment on others, God’s judgment will be heaped upon us. Really, this is a classic case of “what goes around, comes around.” In light of your time before the Judgment throne, seek to show mercy to others.

It’s not about heaven

Do not mistake any of these mega-judgment causing actions with eternal life. That kind of judgment is completely and totally determined based upon the saving work of Jesus Christ. If you are a recipient of this grace, live a grace-filled life that honors the work of Christ on the cross. If you have never received Jesus Christ as your Savior, honor His grace today by responding with faith.

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Faith, Works, and Why James and Paul Agree

2011-07-23T07:08:00.000-05:00

The faith and works tension that appears so obvious between James and Paul has given many believers turmoil and many skeptics talking points concerning the unreliability of Scripture. All of this because it appears that the two apostles are in direct conflict. Consider these passages—

From Paul: “because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin” Romans 3:20 (NASB95).

From James: “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone” James 2:24 (NASB95).

From Paul: “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God” Romans 4:2 (NASB95).

From James: “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?” James 2:21 (NASB95).

One would have more difficulty finding more conflicting statements!

Our choices are fourfold. First, we could ignore the apparent conflict, assuming that this is just another one of those things we can’t fully understand. I am uncomfortable with this approach because surely God is able to communicate clearly in His Word. Second, we could assume Paul or James must be wrong. Many have taken this approach, typically siding with Paul over James, assuming that the book of James is a spurious document unfit for Holy Scripture. This was Martin Luther’s position, for example. The third choice is to assume both are wrong, and deny the infallibility of scripture. This is the route that many liberals take today. I, however, choose the fourth option—to assume both are right and figure out why!

The solution must be found in the context of each writer. A verse by itself never gives the full message. In context, James is writing to Christians who were formerly of the Jewish faith. His message never wavers; from start to finish it is a message appropriate for believers who had come from a faith of the works of the Law, and were now first-generation converts into a faith of grace. Yet a conflict arose in that many were abusing grace by forgetting the works that had previously been such a prominent part of their faith.

Knowing that the passage is to believers, we must then define what James means when he talks about Salvation. In the context of James 1:14-15, salvation appears to be deliverance from sin, not deliverance from Hell. It is a common mistake of modern believers to always view salvation solely as the born-again experience of a believer. We can (and need to be) saved from many things. James consistently speaks of salvation as a deliverance from the grip of sin in this world. Interestingly, when Paul speaks in the same context, he says the same things as James! Consider Romans 2:13 where Paul says, “for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.” Here it seems that Paul contradicts himself when he says, “the doers of the Law will be justified” and in the very next chapter says, “by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified” (Romans 3:20). The difference is found in the context! When Paul speaks of a faith that delivers from sin (Romans 2), he speaks of works. These works “justify” or vindicate the faith. When he speaks, on the other hand, of a faith that delivers from Hell (Romans 3), he speaks of grace.

James says that believers who have been delivered from Hell often need deliverance from sin, which, when allowed to grow, leads to death. He would agree that grace delivers from Hell, but strongly argues that faith plus works are needed to deliver from trials and temptations.

James uses two illustrations that demonstrate his argument: Abraham and Rahab. Both had a saving faith that was from grace, but a delivering faith that was from works. In the case of Abraham, James puts together two powerful scriptural truths to highlight this fact. Relating to saving faith, James reminds us that “Abraham believed, and God credited it to him as righteousness.” But James goes on to say, “he was called the friend of God” (James 2:23). We are told by Jesus in John 15:14 that, “you are my friends if you do what I command you.” These words to the disciples tell us that saving faith comes by grace but delivering faith comes by works.

Peter is a great example as well. Clearly Peter believed Jesus as the Son of God, placing his faith in Jesus Christ. He had a grace-experience that is clear to all, and this grace gave him saving faith. But in his time of crisis at the trial of Jesus, his works did not deliver him. For, in that very moment of crisis, Peter failed. After the failure, Jesus spoke to Peter of faith (“do you love me?”), but the emphasis was on works (“feed my sheep!”)

For the faith that saves, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ! For faith that delivers from trial and temptation, add works! There is no conflict, no ground for skeptics or liberals, and no reason for our minds to question. Praise God for the clarity of His Word!

The Freaked-out Witch of En-Dor

2011-05-27T08:52:00.000-05:00

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In 1 Samuel 28:9-20 Saul, worried about an upcoming battle with the Philistines, consulted a spirit-medium known to us as the “Witch of En-dor.”

Samuel the Prophet, Priest, and Judge had died. King Saul had made a feigned attempt to rid the land of spirit mediums, in obedience to the Law, which said, “There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer… ” (Deuteronomy 18:10, NASB95).

When Saul saw King Achish and his large Philistine camp gathered in Shunem, in what is today the “Valley of Armageddon” (click here for a google satellite map of Shunem), the meaning of King Achish (“I will terrify”) set itself upon Saul’s heart and “he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly” (1 Samuel 28:5). Now without the Word of the Lord through Samuel, there was a famine for a direct message from God. Saul tried every means to hear from God, but “the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets” (1 Samuel 28:6).

Sometimes when God doesn’t give a word, it is because He has already spoken! God is not One who joys in keeping His people in the dark. David rejoiced that “He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel” (Psalm 103:7, NASB95). God speaks His Word and reveals His ways! God was not speaking to Saul because He typically does not repeat Himself. God’s word through Samuel had previously been given, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you” (1 Samuel 15:28, NASB95). Saul had a reason to be afraid.

Desperate for a word, Saul vetoed his own legislation and sought for a spirit medium to conjure up the spirit of Samuel in order to hear another word from God. Saul asked his servants where he could find an illegal medium and they mentioned one who lived in En-dor. As a side note, If someone knows how to find those who will participate in illicit, illegal activity, chances are they have experience with it in some way. Be suspicious of those who know too much about that which should be unknown.

Saul disguised himself and came to this woman, asking her to “Conjure up for me, please, and bring up for me whom I shall name to you” (1 Samuel 28:8). After some hesitancy, she fulfilled the request by seeking Samuel’s spirit. Upon seeing him, “cried out with a loud voice” and immediately knew she had been deceived, she had King Saul in her midst, and she was in over her head.

Why would a spiritist freak out when she accomplishes that which is her professional practice? Why would she immediately know she was dealing with a disguised King Saul? When asked what she saw, she said, “I see a divine being coming up out of the earth” (v. 13). With further description, Saul knew it was Samuel. Samuel gave Saul reason to be terrified, when he said, “Tomorrow, you and your sons will be with me” (v. 19).

I am convinced the reason the Witch of En-dor freaked out is because she had never conjured a spirit before. She was a fake. She had taken the money of grieving families, curious seekers, and ill-informed Jews, but she had never really conjured a spirit. When she saw one “in the flesh” she freaked!

Spiritists and mediums are one of two things: fakes or demonic. I don’t recommend you work with either. Demonic powers can give the appearance of dead spirits, but they cannot bring people back from the dead. Death is permanent until the resurrection, and God is the God of the dead. He does not accommodate Spiritists. Then there are fakes that prey upon grief, need, and desire. They are opportunists with no scruples, no heart, and no godliness. They talk spiritual but they act in the flesh. They may even claim to be Christian but they are in clear disobedience and total disregard for Scripture. They are dangerous wolves seeking someone’s money to devour, cleverly skilled to tell their customer what they want to hear. This was, I am convinced, the profession of the witch at En-dor.

And when she saw a real spirit, she freaked!

The Sinking Ship of Fools

2011-05-18T10:15:00.000-05:00

Note to my readers: as I was working on writing an article on this topic, my friend Jan Markell delivered the article below. It was so well done I asked permission to publish it here. If you are not familiar with Olive Tree Ministries and Jan Markell, follow the links to her site below. You will be blessed.

Will This Ship of Fools Sink May 22?

By Jan Markell

www.olivetreeviews.org

May 17, 2011

There's going to be a party given by "heathens and skeptics" and I hope you have no desire to attend it. They intend to get together to mock the rapture. After months of enduring the unnerving dogmatism of Harold Camping's billboards, signs, cars, radio commercials and bumper stickers heralding the end of the world as we know it on May 21, American Atheistshave announced that they are planning "rapture parties" in Oakland, Houston, and Fort Lauderdale on May 21-22.

The atheists boast of their own billboards which state, The Rapture: You KNOW it's Nonsense. Learn the Truth at our Party." The billboard is designed to knock two millennia of false predictions that the world was about to end. So, they are having a party to celebrate another rapture that wasn't. And the atheists will be more accurate than the Christians because they are going after the date-setters.

So who's behind the latest date-setting nonsense? None other than false teacher Harold Camping who has led a well organized "We Can Know" campaign for more than a year. Sorry, Harold. We cannot know. The Bible says that inMatthew 24:36.

What can we know for sure will result from Camping's prediction?

He will be proven wrong.
He will put all who long for the Lord's return in a bad light.
This will push many more away from considering end-time issues as they will not want to be lumped into such a questionable category.
Church pulpits will grow even more silent on this topic right at a time when a countdown has truly begun and it is nearing midnight.
The mockers and scoffers will grow stronger and more vocal.

Due to natural disasters, economic tumult, efforts at forming a one-world system, and political corruption on overdrive, people instinctively know something is very wrong. American Atheists President, Dave Silverman, says in a statement,"What distinguishes the latest round of warnings is the sheer scale of 'gloom and doom' over everything from the economy to the environment."

Having been proved a fool back in 1994 with a similar prediction, one would think these guys would learn! Instead, Camping now insists that Jesus is coming back on May 21, 2011. On that day, true Christians will be raptured and everyone else will come under the judgment of Christ for a period of five months, ending on October 21, 2011.

But Camping states, "God has given so much information in the Bible about this, and so many proofs, and so many signs, that we know it is absolutely going to happen without any question at all. There's nothing in the Bible that holds a candle to the amount of information to this tremendous truth of the end of the world. I would be absolutely in rebellion against God if I thought anything other than it is absolutely going to happen without any question."

Camping is relying heavily on math and the mathematical formula seems known only to him. But Albert Mohler says,"The Bible does not contain hidden codes that we are to find and decipher. The Bible has been given to us in order that we might know the truth, and the truth is clearly revealed in its pages. We are not to look for hidden patterns of words, numbers, dates, or anything else. The Bible's message is plain and requires no mathematical computation for its understanding. The claim that one has found a hidden code or system in the Bible is an insult to the Bible as the Word of God."

His disciples are all across America. Recently, Christian friends of mine spent a day doing intense evangelism at a secular Minneapolis/St. Paul outdoor event. Camping's followers were there passing out their own doomsday literature. They would not listen. They were convinced they have a week before apocalyptic events begin. They are seduced. They insist, in this case, that the secret things don't belong just to God (Deut. 29:29); rather, the followers of Harold Camping have been let in on a giant secret. But Jesus himself said in Matthew 24:36, "Of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my father only." What part of "knows no man" do they not get? Isn't all of this just further proof that biblical illiteracy and deception are raging?

Rick LaCasse, who attended Camping's September 1994 service in Alameda, said that 15 years later, his faith in Camping has only strengthened.

"Evidently, he was wrong," LaCasse allowed, "but this time it is going to happen. There was some doubt last time, but we didn't have any proofs. This time we do."

Would his opinion of Camping change if May 21, 2011, ended without incident?

"I can't even think like that," LaCasse said. "Everything is too positive right now. There's too little time to think like that."

It appears this ship of fools will not sink on May 22, 2011. Camping will likely go back to the drawing board and come up with another sure-fire calculation and some sheep without shepherds will still follow him. But God never rewards the date-setters. If He did, He would show the Bible to be inaccurate and untrustworthy.

Jesus is coming again! But thanks to Harold Camping and friends, on May 22, more may be laughing and scoffing than anticipating. Those of us who long for His appearing can have joy amidst turmoil and expectation in spite of world chaos knowing that it will happen in His perfect timing!

Get acquainted with "Understanding the Times" radio

now heard in 416 markets. We air out of Minneapolis/St. Paul Saturday, 9 - 11 a.m. CST on AM1280 the Patriot and AM980 KKMS. You can "listen live" there. All Saturday programming is posted to "Radio Archives" on our Web site on Sunday.

Go to this link for info on podcasting via iTunes.

Jan's guest this weekend is Jill Martin Rische, daughter of the late Dr. Walter Martin. Their topic is the alarming rise of the paranormal on all media outlets today. People love being entertained to death and following this pathway will lead to spiritual darkness. Listen so that you can be informed and alert loved ones.

Also, since Mormonism is now high profile, the Mormon Church has baptized Dr. Walter Martin and others posthumously into the Mormon Church. Holocaust victims have been baptized as well. What is behind this?Listen live here.

Celebrating 63 Years of Prophetic Fulfillment

2011-05-14T20:36:00.000-05:00

www.wordfortheworld.tv

In May, 1948, the unthinkable happened. In fulfillment of ancient prophecies, a nation was “born in a day.” Nation birth in itself is not terribly dramatic. In fact, it is somewhat common-place. The number of nations born in the aftermath of World War II is especially staggering. Today the entire Middle East is filled with ancient nations rebirthed in a modern embodiment. Though the names of Middle Eastern countries—Israel and

Egypt

, for example—are ancient, a glance at their date of independence shows that all of them were born as a modern nations after 1920.

So why is the birth of modern Israel in 1948 significant? First, let’s go back in history. Israel was born as a theocracy (nation led by God) at Mt. Sinai immediately after the Exodus. Before that time, the Hebrew “nation” was a clan of decedents from Abraham living as sojourners in a Promised-but-not-received Land, or in

Egypt

. After 40 years of nomadic existence, the new Theocracy entered its Promised Land near Jericho. Within a period of about seven years, around 1400 BC, the new nation conquered and inhabited the land deeded by God to Abraham in Genesis 12:7.

For several hundred years the new nation enjoyed independence and was ruled very loosely as a confederation of tribes. In 1051 BC the nation chose its first King, Saul the Benjamite. The monarchy lasted under two families until it divided in 931 BC into the northern monarchy (Israel) and the southern monarchy (

Judah

). Israel survived until it was conquered by Assyrians in 723 BC. Judah lasted until 586 BC when it was conquered by the Babylonians and most of its citizens were transported to exile in Babylon. However, 70 years after the initial deportation, the nation returned, began rebuilding, and held many of the characteristics of a nation-state, though constantly existing as a vassal state of other empires: first the Persians, then the Greeks, then the Romans. For a glorious period following the uprising of Judas Maccabees in 165 BC,

Israel

was completely independent. With the arrival of Rome in 63 BC, however, the nation was once again a less-than-independent state living within the Promised Land. In 70 AD, with the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome, Jews lost not only political control but possession as well, and the nation of Abraham was scattered through the nations of the world; a dispersion that would last in full-effect until the miraculous began to happen in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.

After 1800 years, the Jewish people still remained a cohesive, identifiable group. So much so that many Christian preachers through the ages have said that if one needs evidence that the Bible is true, all he needs to do is look at the existence of the Jew. Outside of the hand of God, the retention of culture and identity over 1800 years among groups of people scattered throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa would simply be an impossibility.

In the late 1800’s a movement called “Zionism” began to take root in the heart of Christians and Jews. Zionism is the religiously-fueled desire to create, promote, and protect a Jewish State in the Promised Land. The earliest Jews returning to the land for the express purpose of building a Jewish state began in the 1860’s, and the movement has continually grown since that time.

Why is this significant?

Hundreds of years before Christ, God clearly stated His agenda for the Jews: “For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. ” (Ezekiel 36:24, NASB95) There has only been one time when Israel was scattered to the nations (plural), which was after the fall of Jerusalem. There was only one promised re-gathering from the nations, and this regathering began in the late 1800’s and continues to this day. A picture of this regathering is seen in the valley of dry bones of Ezekiel’s vision. The valley was said to be “the whole house of

Israel

.” The bones, though very dead, would begin to rattle and roll in the latter days, then would connect, dance, become covered in muscle and flesh, and, finally, be given the breath of life.

Anyone who believes in the truth of the Old Testament—Christian or Jew—must rejoice at the obvious fulfillment of this dry bones prophecy. The regathring of

Israel

to the Promised Land was an impossibility. Imagine an Italian-American family returning to Italy after 100 years of living in

America

. It would not happen. Imagine the descendants of German immigrants returning to Germany after 150 years of living in

America

. It would not happen. Imagine descendants of the first pilgrims returning to

England

after 400 years. It would not happen. Imagine further that these families retained all their old-world customs for 100 years, or 150, or 400 years. It would not happen! It could not happen! It has never happened!

But for nearly 2,000 years the Jews were scattered, retained their Jewishness, and continually prayed, “Next year, in Jerusalem!” In time—a long, long time—their prayer was fulfilled, along with the prophecy of God.

How should Christians respond to this prophetic fulfillment?

We should support the nation of

Israel

politically. The safety and prosperity of

Israel

should be a political agenda and a litmus test for the Christian voter. When God has done a work, we should stand with what He has done.

We should pray for the nation of

Israel

passionately. God is looking for those who say, “For Zion’s sake I will not be silent!” He has placed watchmen on the wall. Their job is not just intercessory prayer (a common Christian misconception of the Watchman), but, rather their job is to pray for the peace of Jerusalem! Their job description is found in Isaiah 62:6-7 “… All day and all night they will never keep silent. You who remind the Lord, take no rest for yourselves; And give Him no rest until He establishes And makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. ” (Isaiah 62:6–7, NASB95)

We should finance the nation of

Israel

plentifully. “For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things” (Romans 15:27, NASB95). This summer my church will be having, for the first time, a benevolent offering that will directly bless Jews in

Israel

. We will do this because God has done the work of regathering the Jewish people to their homeland. I personally will take part in helping to finance the cost of what God is doing in the nation of

Israel

Replacement Theology: A Lie

Finally, let me speak a word to some who may say “The church is the New Israel!” This is called “replacement theology.” Those with a replacement theology need to replace their theology! God has been true to the Jew, to

Israel

, and to His own Word. Christians should stand in amazement at the undeniable work of God fulfilled before our eyes. God’s Word is absolutely clear that He will stand by Israel FOREVER! Some Christians want “forever” to mean “a long time” in the Old Testament when it speaks about the Jew, and “eternally” in the New Testament when it speaks of the life God gives through Jesus Christ. We cannot have it both ways! When God says, “for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever ” (Genesis 13:15, NASB95), He must mean forever! He told Jeremiah when this “forever” would cease:

“If this fixed order [of the moon and stars] departs from before Me,” declares the Lord, “Then the offspring of Israel also will cease From being a nation before Me forever.” Thus says the Lord, “If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel For all that they have done,” declares the Lord. ” (Jeremiah 31:36–37, NASB95)

Join me in supporting Israel—forever!

Dr. Randy White

www.wordfortheworld.tv

To receive my sermon “Why You Should Be a Zionist”, click here. $5 suggested donation supports the coming radio broadcast ministry of Word for the World.

Answering the Critics: Proverbs 24:17 in light of the death of Osama bin Laden

2011-05-05T18:28:00.000-05:00

Since writing an article earlier this week on the Christian response to the death of Osama bin Laden, I have received several e-mails asking about Proverbs 24:17-18, “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; Or the Lord will see it and be displeased, And turn His anger away from him. ” (Proverbs 24:17–18, NASB95)

Some of these e-mails have come from inquiring minds who have an honest desire to understand what Scripture is saying, and others from those who feel very strongly that rejoicing over the death of OBL has no place within Christianity . A few of the responses were clearly more politically than spiritually motivated, and one was an utterly appalling comment from a White-supremacist, anti-Semitic loon.

Is there compatibility between my previous article and Proverbs 24:17-18? I clearly said that a Christian can rejoice over the death of bin Laden. Proverbs 24:17, on the other hand, clearly states that we should not rejoice when our enemy falls. So, do I need to retract?

No!

This is a great example of proof texting; the practice of taking a single or select group of Scripture(s) and using them as proof of your argument, without consideration of context. Proverbs 24:17-18 does teach that there is a time when it would be inappropriate to rejoice when an enemy falls, but it does not teach this as a universal principle.

To begin, the Proverb states that you, as an individual, should not rejoice “when your enemy falls.” The personal pronoun is dominant in the verse. The verse does not say “when an enemy falls.” If it did, it would make me consider a retraction. Before you accuse me of linguistic gymnastics for defending my own work, let me prove the point.

There are clearly instances in which God’s people rejoiced over the fall of an enemy. When David killed Goliath, he cut off the giant’s head and paraded through the streets of Jerusalem, with the women singing, “Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten-thousands” (1 Samuel 18:7). Moses and the Israelites sang a song when Pharaoh’s army was drowned in the Red Sea. Deborah wrote a song celebrating the death of Sisera, specifically praising Jael, who “smashed his head; and she shattered and pierced his temple” (Judges 5:25). These and other passages show that there is a time of rejoicing when an enemy falls.

But with Proverbs 24:17-18 we must conclude that there is a time when it is not appropriate to rejoice over a fallen enemy. I believe the line of demarcation lies in the authority of the one bringing down the enemy, and the connection of the enemy to that authority.

Here is the principle to remember: When the enemy is an enemy of the state, rejoice in his fall; when the enemy is a personal enemy, “do not let your heart be glad.”

You will find this principle proven many times over in the Bible. We should pray for our personal enemies, seek reconciliation, and even bless them. National enemies, however, are to be brought to justice, even when that justice means death. Test this principle in your own study of Scripture.

There is a reason for this truth that is a fundamentally necessary aspect of a Biblical worldview. God has ordained government as the instrument of justice in our world. An enemy of the state is an enemy of the God-ordained order. (An argument of righteous civil disobedience is non-sequiter to this principle, and only highlights the truth of God-ordained government). Since the days of Noah, the state has held the scepter. When the state carries out its God-ordained duty, the citizens of the state should rejoice.

An intriguing example comes with the death King David’s son, Absalom. The King was clearly and understandably grieved at the death of his son. In fact, he was almost grieved beyond the ability to function. Joab, the leader of the army, boldly chastised the King for “loving those who hate you and hating those who love you” (2 Samuel 19:6). The King’s actions were causing quarreling among the tribes of Israel because they were not receiving a clear message. One message presented Absalom as an enemy of the State, seeking to overthrow the government. The other message portrayed Absalom as the King’s dear son, tragically killed at the sword. I believe that Joab’s chastisement reminded David that the nation needed to rejoice in the loss of the enemy of the State, and that the government had fulfilled its God-given duty of justice. This story reminds us to grieve over the loss of personal enemies, and rejoice over the fall of national enemies.

Another example of proof-texting in the OBL death case is Ezekiel 18:23, where God says, “’Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,’ declares the Lord God, ‘rather than that he should turn from his ways and live? ‘” When the principle of “national enemy” and “personal enemy” is applied once again, this passage clearly speaks to personal enemies, and Proverbs 24:17 is parallel.

I received an email from one woman who mourned the fact that she had been chastised by so many Christians for being glad that Osama bin Laden was dead. Perhaps the chastisement should be upon those who fail to carefully apply Biblical truth? That truth: rejoice in the destruction of a national enemy, grieve over the loss of a soul, and apply Biblical truth in context rather than proof texting personal claims.

A Christian Response to Osama bin Laden's Death

2011-05-02T20:12:00.000-05:00

Public enemy #1 is dead. How should a believer respond? Many of us are torn between rejoicing and grief. Here is a four-point response I believe every believer can make.

1. Rejoice that an enemy is dead.

Osama bin Laden is a clear enemy. As the leader of Al Qaeda, he is responsible for the death of over 3,000 men, women, and children on 9/11, as well as those who died on the USS Cole, the deaths of US servicemen shot down in Somalia in Operation Restore Hope, the 301 persons killed and 5,000 injured in bombings of U.S. Embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, the bombing of a synagogue in Tunisia, the deaths of 180 people in a nightclub in Bali, and the list goes on. Clearly, Osama bin Laden has been the deadliest terrorist of this young century.

Is it Christian to rejoice at the death of this wicked man? Yes! The Bible is full of examples of rejoicing over the death of the wicked.

Moses rejoiced that, ““Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; And the choicest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea. “The deeps cover them; They went down into the depths like a stone” (Exodus 15:4–5, NASB95).

When Jezebel died, the Scripture records that, “…they returned and told him. And he said, “This is the word of the Lord, which He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘In the property of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel; and the corpse of Jezebel will be as dung on the face of the field in the property of Jezreel, so they cannot say, ‘This is Jezebel’” (2 Kings 9:36–37, NASB95).

When Hamaan, the enemy of the Jews, was hanged on the gallows, and the Jews were allowed to defend themselves against his evil plan, the Jews made a permanent day of rejoicing, still observed to this day: “because on those days the Jews rid themselves of their enemies, and it was a month which was turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and rejoicing and sending portions of food to one another and gifts to the poor ” (Esther 9:22, NASB95).

The Psalms are full of prayers against the wicked, such as, “O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds. ” (Psalm 7:9, NASB95)

Even the wisdom of Proverbs rejoices when the wicked perish: “When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, And when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting.” (Proverbs 11:10, NASB95)

Yes, it is acceptable for a Christian to rejoice in the fall of the wicked.

2. Grieve that a soul is lost.

Osama bin Laden is in hell. God wishes hell on no one. A believer should grieve that the message that could have saved bin Laden was spurned and rejected. The same rejection continues by followers of Islam worldwide. Rather than accept Jesus as Savior, they relegate Him to the place of prophet. The New Testament is clear that a person is only saved by calling upon the name of the Lord. There is no need to wonder whether or not bin Laden is in hell because Scripture has made the declaration.

Believers should not, however, rejoice that bin Laden has gone to hell. God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4). Our grief is that God’s desire for salvation was not fulfilled in the life of this terrorist. While such a statement may concern some and irk others, the truth is that bin Laden rejected the witness of the Gospel that has been made evident to everyone, leaving all “without excuse.”

Our grief response should be to “beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20). Do not reject Christ and suffer the consequence of eternal hell as bin Laden did.

3. Pray for those under deception.

The Islamic world is deceived by Satan, veiled in a cloak of darkness. There has been a subversion of the message of the Gospel with a new “gospel.” Paul says, “…even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! ” (Galatians 1:8, NASB95). The false prophet Mohamed created a contrary gospel is accursed. Sadly, his message has left millions without the truth. The contrary gospel has also produced the degradation of women, the hatred of Jews, the killing of Americans, and the loss of personal freedoms which could bring joy to life.

Believers should pray that the Gospel of Jesus Christ would impact as many of the followers of Islam as possible. Jesus Christ is their only hope! We should pray that totalitarian governments of the Islamic world would collapse and be replaced with governments that allow for the freedom of worship. We should pray for the collapse of Islam in totality as men and women have the veil of falsehood drawn back from their eyes. While prophecy tells us of a coming war between Israel and the Middle Eastern (Islamic) world, it also shows that Islam will lose the war in a humiliating defeat. With the coming collapse will come an opportunity for the Gospel to spread. The sad reality, however, is that the anemic state of the Christian church will allow the void left by the fall of Islam to be filled with secularism rather than Christianity.

4. Long for the days of Messiah’s reign.

Someday the deceiver will find himself locked away, defeated by the returning King, and his deceptive ways will no longer blind the nations. Until that day, the devil roams about like a lion, seeking whom he may devour. Right now, Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, but the promise of God to Him is quickly approaching: “I [will] make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet” (Psalm 110:1, NASB95).

When we pray, “Thy Kingdom come,” we pray for the day when the deceiver is thrown into the abyss which is shut and sealed for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:3).

May that day come quickly!

For more information about the end times, read my book, The Antichrist .

What about the Weather?

2011-04-30T01:36:00.001-05:00

Dr. Randy White

http://www.wordfortheworld.tv

“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. ” (Matthew 24:7, NASB95)

God has consistently shown Himself to be open to using weather to accomplish His purposes. Just consider a few of the many weather related events that were directly related to the work of God—

He sent a flood to clean the earth after “the sons of god married the daughters of men” (Genesis 6).

He sent a famine, and displayed it in advance through a dream, to cause the rise of Joseph to power in Egypt.

He sent a strong wind to part the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21)

He provided great hailstones in more than one battle, bringing victory to the Chosen People.

His Son, Jesus Christ, calmed the winds and the seas.

He predicted earthquakes and will use them to change history (Ezekiel 38:19).

He has promised famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in the end times (Matthew 24:7)

It seems that God has chosen to use weather related disaster to bring judgment on more than one group of people, often related to their treatment of Israel.

On April 13, 2011 on my Twitter account I posted a notice that “America will be punished” if a referenced article (here) was true. The news article said that President Obama was willing to recognize a Palestinian state with 1967 borders. Since that news was made public on April 13, the National Weather Service’s preliminary estimate is that storms have produced more than 600 tornadoes in the United States. The previous record for April was 267 tornadoes, and the previous record for any month of the year was 542 tornadoes. The April 27-28 tornado outbreak in Alabama became (as of this writing) the 6^th deadliest day of weather related fatalities in the United States since records began in 1680. (Reference material here.)

In addition to the tornado disaster is the devastating March 11 Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan and the bitter cold winter with record-breaking blizzards in the US this past year. As winter gave way to spring, early heat waves of more than 100 degree days in large parts of Texas, along with severe drought, has spawned 912 fires which have burned 1,650,000 acres of land and destroyed 565 structures.

Earthquakes, tsunamis, blizzards, tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts, floods…the list is endless. While I do not believe that every storm is a warning from God nor every earthquake the judgment of God, it would be undeniable that God has often chosen to use weather and earthquakes to express His displeasure with the actions of man. To deny that an outbreak of tornadoes, an earthquake, a blizzard, flood, or drought could be the judgment of God takes a denial of the obvious.

Several facts are evident—

The earth, and all of creation, groans under the curse of sin (Romans 8:22). The weather patterns we experience today are not the weather patterns God originally created for our planet. Only when our Redeemer comes and begins to reign, and the curse under which creation groans is removed, will we experience weather as God intended it to be.
God has promised unusually strong earthquakes in the end of days (Luke 21:11).
God has said there will be famines and pestilence during the last days (Matthew 24:7).
God has promised unusual cosmic events in the heavens during the last days, such as falling stars, a blood-red moon, and the putrification of water.

I will avoid the temptation to view every storm cloud as a sign of the times, but I will also not fail to recognize that weather is about to give us more and more signs of the end. “The weather outside is frightful” may become less of a Christmas jingle and more of an eschatological reality in the days to come.

www.wordfortheworld.tv

Get my book, The Antichrist, here.

How Many Days was Jesus in the Tomb?

2011-04-21T21:29:00.000-05:00

Question: Dr. White; My friends and I were talking about Easter Sunday and some stuff, and the fact that Canada celebrates Easter on Monday. So we got to talking about it, and we came to the conclusion that Jesus may have risen on Monday if He was in the grave literally 3 days (24 hour time periods). However, in Mark 16, it starts off with 'when the Sabbath was over, which would be Sunday.

I was just wondering what you thought about it, and if you had any knowledge that would help us understand it better?

Answer:

This is a great question. Believe it or not, the answer is somewhat complicated, but not exactly in the direction you went.

The Canadian “Easter Monday” is actually the government holiday. The religious observance takes place on Sunday, the same as in the USA.

But the three-day question has led some to believe that Jesus was crucified on Thursday, not Friday. A few even believe He was crucified on Wednesday.

Trying to figure out the chronology of the last week of Jesus’ life is very difficult. The Gospels told events, but they didn’t put a calendar. To complicate matters further, the Jewish system of counting days is different than the Roman system (which is our system). A Jewish day started at Sunset.

Matthew 12:40 speaks of the “Sign of Jonah” and says that Jesus will be in the heart of the earth “Three days and three nights.” We know that Jesus arose on the third day, but it is hard to imagine how this is three nights. The best we can do is believe that this phrase was not meant to be taken literally. There is some evidence that talking of “days and nights” is simply an ancient Jewish way of saying “from today until anytime on the day after tomorrow.” Here is some Biblical evidence—

Esther 4:15-16 says that the Queen urged the Jews to fast for “three days, night and day.” Then Esther 5:1 reveals that “it came about on the third day” that Esther went before the King. Either Esther “jumped the gun” or her phrase could be taken to mean “the day after tomorrow” in an English sense.

Genesis 42:17-18 gives a hint of this also when it says that Joseph put his brothers “in prison for three days” but released them “on the third day.”

It seems that the ancient Jewish method of reckoning days allows any portion of the day to be counted as a full day. Paul seems to have no problem with this kind of reckoning when he says that Jesus was raised “on the third day” in 1 Corinthians 15:4.

In Matthew 27:63-66 we have the Jewish and Roman leadership’s interpretation of Jesus’ words. Because they were on the scene, their understanding can be trusted. In verse 63 Jesus was quoted as saying “after three days I am to rise again.” In modern thought, we would not expect the resurrection until after the three days—thus we would look for a resurrection on the fourth. However, that was clearly not the expectation of the government authorities of Jesus’ day. Verse 64 says, “Therefore [because Jesus said after the third day He would rise again], give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day.” The authorities clearly understood “after the third day” to mean “on the third day.” This is very strong evidence that the ancient Jewish system of counting days was very different from the modern Western method. The guards who were stationed “until the third day” were still there on the first day of the week when the women came to the tomb (Matthew 28:4). So, what we would call the second day after the crucifixion was undoubtedly understood as the third day by their means of counting days.

While much work has been done by some to bring the crucifixion to Wednesday or Thursday, almost every Biblical scholar understands Friday to have been the day of the crucifixion and Sunday the day of the resurrection.

Why Paula White is totally wrong about Passover

2011-04-19T13:30:00.000-05:00

On her website, charismatic evangelist Paula White writes, “Passover blessings have begun, don’t miss out on yours!”

Paula’s ex-husband is also among the famed in charismatic TV, and both of them often make headlines in the news. This is a consistent annoyance to me because her ex-husband has the same name as I do—Randy White. When searching for Randy White on the web, make sure you read the orthodox, conservative, Biblical work of Randy White from Katy, TX, and not that of the charismatic, feel-good, divorcee who calls himself “Bishop” Randy White.

With that side note out of the way, let’s get back to Paula. On her website, Paula White states that “When you honor God during Passover, He will:

· Assign an angel to you.

· Be an enemy to your enemies.

· Give you prosperity.

· Take sickness away from you.

· Give you a long life.

· Bring increase and inheritance.

· Give a special year of blessing.

Supposedly, these seven blessings are taught in Exodus 23. A thoughtful mind should ask, “ how does Paula get these blessings from Exodus 23?” The answer is shamefully clear--she uses the “Name it and claim it” system of Biblical interpretation that is often used in charismatic circles. Here is how this system works—

1. Find a scripture that says something you like.

2. Assume that the instruction is for all people of all time.

3. Claim it as your own and act upon it.

Back in Exodus 23, for example, Paula claims that God will assign an angel to you. Here is the “Name it and claim it” system at work—

1. Exodus 23:20 says, “Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. “

2. Paula assumes that this is a universal instruction for all time.

3. Paula claims it on behalf of her followers.

Sounds good, right? Wrong! The problem is that Exodus 23:20 was written to a specific people going to a specific place. It is not available to all who think it sounds good and would like to claim it as their own.

Paula then goes on to do what so many “Name it and claim it” preachers do—she interprets the means through which one may become a partaker of the blessing. Not surprisingly, it turns out that she wants her followers to “honor God with a sacrificial Passover/Easter Offering.” Disregard the fact that the Bible never teaches anything about a financial offering for Passover (let alone Easter), she has created a means of obedience to “Scripture” that will surely bring the obedient one into the seven blessings which she made up using proof texts in a name-it-claim-it fashion.

Now, for my real feelings: this misuse and abuse of the Bible is the work of wolves preying on sheep. Even an elementary Bible student would have a better means of Biblical interpretation. Further, the consistent robbery of Jewish feasts for Christian purposes has an anti-Semitic root. Christians who feel the need to take from the Jews that which God has given to them are shameful. The Passover is clearly a Jewish ordinance with deeply Jewish meaning. I will not be instituting a Christian Passover, and my Jewish friends will probably not be instituting a Jewish Lord’s Supper. Christians can certainly enjoy the blessing of seeing and understanding the significance of the Passover. I was personally blessed by celebrating the Jewish Passover in a Jewish home in a Jewish manner this year. The Feast of Tabernacles has an invitation to gentiles, and the gentile can be blessed by it. The Feast of Passover can be a blessing for the gentile if it is a fellowship opportunity with Jewish friends. Yet, the fact remains, Christians should not rob the Jews of Jewish feasts.

THERE IS NO PHYSICAL ACTIVITY THAT A CHRISTIAN SHOULD DO TO GAIN PHYSICAL BLESSING. The Apostle Paul specifically condemns the keeping of certain festival days. Christians should not adopt that which the Bible condemns, especially by robbing these festival days from Jews, and claiming that such action will bring one into the blessings of God.

___

Interested in learning more about the work of the Holy Spirit? SpiritWorks is a four-part sermon series available from Word for the World Ministries, which broadcasts the teaching of Dr. Randy White. This four-part series is available for a suggested donation of $15. This series includes “Who is the Holy Spirit,” “The Ministry of the Spirit for the Lost,” “The Ministry of the Spirit for the Saved,” and “The Baptism and Filling of the Spirit.” Click here to order.

www.randywhiteministries.org

Passover and the Last Supper

2011-04-15T01:42:00.000-05:00

Next week is the ancient Hebrew observance of Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread. The Israelites in Egypt were given instruction to observe these as "a permanent ordinance" (Exodus 12:14). To this day—3,500 years later—Jewish families are faithful to conduct the Passover Seder to be reminded of their flight from Egypt. The Passover is the longest running religious observance known to man.

If the feasts were to be “a permanent ordinance,” should the Christian believer be conducting a Passover meal in his home?

I can easily answer “No” for two reasons. First, the Christian was never given the feast as his own. This is a Jewish observance, meaningful to the physical children of Abraham. It is a reminder of the exhibition of God’s grace displayed to physical Israel in the Exodus. Too many Christians today have a subtle replacement theology that causes them to consider themselves Jewish in some respects. While our Christian faith is dependent upon Jewish roots, Christians are not Jews. The book of Revelation condemned those “who say they are Jews but are not” (Revelation 2:9). Because Christians are not Jews, they do not need to observe the Jewish feasts.

Second, the Christian is clearly free from the Law. Romans 7, the entire book of Galatians, and other New Testament texts make this clear. The Law has been fulfilled in Christ. Being free from the Law, we have no obligation to fulfill its demands.

This said, a Christian can find great wonderment and blessing in observing these ordinances with Jewish friends and neighbors, and in learning about these observances as part of his own Holy History. He must, however, be very careful not to place himself under the obligation of observance, creating a New Testament form of Old Testament legalism.

Christians should also be very careful not to rob the Jew of Jewish feasts. We can make such focus on “Christ in the Passover” that the Jew is robbed of the Jewishness of his feast. I am afraid that there are many Christians who say they do not believe in replacement theology but they have “baptized” every Jewish Old Testament observance into their Christian faith so that the Jew is left with nothing of what God gave him.

Many Christians believe that the Lord’s Supper is the New Testament Passover. I am convinced that this is a misinterpretation of the New Testament, and a subtle means of robbing the Jew of the Passover. The Lord’s Supper is not a baptized Passover. The Lord’s Supper is a completely new observance given exclusively to the church just as the Passover was given exclusively to the Jew. There is a debate among theologians about content of the Last Supper—was it the Passover meal, or the day before the Passover? I believe that the Passover was to be celebrated the day following the Last Supper, making the Last Supper a new and never before experienced meal for Believers.

To hear my sermon explaining the Passover and the Last Supper, click here and then choose sermon #72. Click here to download a listener’s guide.

While remembering the Jewish observance of the Passover, join with me in praying for the Peace of Jerusalem!