One Year Tomorrow marks one year of weekly posts to the Thousand Hills Thoughts blog. The purpose behind this blog was not to demonstrate my amazing writing abilities which is probably fairly obvious. I really wanted to write a weekly message specifically for us here at Marshall First Baptist Church. The hope has been that these short blogs would be a place to go a little deeper and maybe spring into thinking through important topics. What a year to start with! In reality I had wanted to start a blog for a while and the Lord brought about two important things to make the blog a reality. First, the pandemic made the need to find as many ways as possible to get helpful and hopeful content out as possible. I hope the blog has been that. The second thing that happened was Lucy coming on board at church. I am horrible at the technical stuff, but she takes care of all that. Thank you, Lucy, for your hard work! Connection Over the year of 2020, the goal, at least in ministry and church circles, was to maintain and increase connection. Every pastor I knew was talking about how to connect with folks in their churches. I am thankful for technologies that we have been able to take advantage of over the last year to keep in touch. But connection is not just important during a pandemic. We always need to be connecting with other people. We need the fellowship and camaraderie that comes with real interactions with other people. There are at least two important ways that we as Christians need to be thinking about interpersonal connections in our lives. First, God has not made us to be lone ranger believers. We all need other Christians. I’ll share more about this later, but we genuinely need each other. The second kind of connection that we must be intentional about is evangelistic interactions. We need to be looking for opportunities to share with lost people about the Lord Jesus Christ and the glorious good news of the Kingdom of God. We need to be willing to talk about what we believe and the impact of our faith for both this life and eternity. We also need to understand how our lifestyle should be a catalyst to open up opportunities to tell others about Jesus. Community I think that after the last year there seems to be a great appetite for real community. When I say community what I mean is people forming deep relationships with those who share the same culture, character, and commitments. I think this is exactly what the local church is supposed to be. Brothers and sisters, God has called us to unity in the local church. We need these strong bonds of responsibility and accountability with those who have a covenant commitment to us and us to them. But this type of community must be more than just the large gathering once a week. We all need the weekly worship gathering. Without that we would cease to be one united local church. However, everyone of us needs to have closer connections with smallers groups where we can connect and grow. These are the times when we can really build the culture that culminates in real community. We are sharing more than just surface level acquaintances but genuine friendships. The hope is that through these smaller, more connected gatherings we can build the kind of Christian community that edifies the believers, blesses our town and county, and glorifies the Lord. As we meet together discussing God’s word and His work in our lives what will develop is more than just doctrinal agreement but diligent character and devotional commitment. I believe that this is the kind of connection that was the goal of the early church and the need of the current church. So let’s do it! Let’s look for opportunities to go deeper and build community. These opportunities can look like Sunday school and Thousand Hills and Wednesday night prayer meetings or even meetings in your homes with three or four other families in the church enjoying fellowship and seeking the Lord! It doesn’t need to be perfect, just real and intentional!
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Downhill Last week, I shared some thoughts about those wonderful times in our spiritual lives that we often refer to as mountain top experiences or periods. So today I would like to balance that with talking about the times that we would associate with being down in the valley. Just as with the mountain, I believe that these low periods present us with both opportunities and understandings that we may not have otherwise. The challenge is that fruit that may be ripening during these times may not be easily seen in the darkness of the moment. Even as believers we may find ourselves in moments or seasons of despair and depression. In these times, it is important that we grasp tightly the reality that the Lord has not abandoned us and that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Preparation There is help for us in the Scriptures and through the Spirit, even if we are brand new to the Kingdom of God and the way of Christ. I want to encourage you that if you are not in one of these valley experiences, now is the time to draw near to God and solidify your doctrinal underpinnings so that you have both the knowledge and confidence you need in those moments. So what doctrinal realities do you most need to have to be ready for these most difficult moments of life? First, we all need an unwavering trust in the goodness of God. God's goodness encompassing His justice and compassion is absolutely necessary in these times when our experience will lie to us and tempt us to deny God's goodness and destroy our hope. But if we truly believe that God is good. We have basis for hope regardless of our circumstance. Second, we all need the highest possible view of God's sovereignty. The fact that God is in control is not in question whether we believe it or not. However, if we accurately place our full faith in the reality that our God is in absolute control of the grandest events in the universe and the smallest details of our lives then we can know that everything, even the pain or loss that we may be experiencing have a purpose for our good and for His glory! Finally, we must have an unwavering confidence in His Word! The Bible is the ONLY source of revelation from God that we have or need. In the deep, dark valley experiences of life the Holy Scriptures continue to point us to the praise, the edifying encouragements, and the hosts of promises that we need to rest in peace of our great God! Now So what should you do if you are in the valley now? Dear saint, turn to the means of grace and comfort that the Lord has provided. Cry out to your God in fervent passionate prayer. Even if the words won't come, have no doubt that your tears and the groaning of Spirit is speaking volumes on your behalf. Also, do not neglect to feast on the word. You may not feel like reading your Bible but now is when you most need it. If you can't read it then listen to it being read but saturate yourself with His promises. Lastly, you need God's people. I know you probably don't feel like being with people but you need people and specifically you need your church family. Call for the Elders to come and pray for you and counsel you. But whatever you do, do not neglect to gather with your local church (Hebrews 10:24-25)! Normal Language In our regular parlance, we speak of the mountain top as a metaphor for a time of blessing and enjoyment. The metaphor works because it conjures the image of us being lifted up and on top of the things happening in our lives. The view is good from the mountain and we have a better vantage point to see our blessings and understand our struggles. In the Scriptures the Lord also speaks of the mountain top as symbolizing blessing. Even the temple was built on the mount of the Lord. Worship takes place on the mountain. Even the language referring to going to Jerusalem is an ascendant language. You will notice that everyone, no matter what direction they are coming from, goes up to Jerusalem. Also many of the Psalms are called Psalms of ascents because they were meant to be sung while ascending to Jerusalem and the temple for worship. Ministry As Baptists, we believe in the priesthood of the believer. The doctrine teaches that in the New Covenant there are not earthly priests. Rather, we have a high priest in the heavens who is our perfect representative before the Father who is the Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:13-16). So all of us who are believers are called to some service to the Lord and for one another. We are a kingdom of priests to our God (1 Peter 2:9-10). We all as the Holy Spirit indwelt covenant people have gifts and with those gifts responsibility to serve Jesus and His bride. The term ministry, that we so often attach to the offices of Pastor's/Elders and Deacons, really just means to serve. All Christians have a calling and ministry they are meant to fulfill. The mountain top is an opportunity to exercise our gifts and bless others with the role that God has called us to in service to His body, the church. During these periods of spiritual exhilaration, it is important that we not simply bask in the enjoyment of the Lord but also share with others this joy unspeakable that is full of glory! Lookout I mentioned earlier that during these mountain top experiences we have a good vantage point in which to see the blessings of the Lord and understand our struggles. But also on the mountain top we have the advantage of being watchmen. From this place we can see the approach of enemies so as to prepare our defenses or even mount an offensive strike. As we look around at the world and our enemy, we must recognize false worldviews and unbiblical thinking so as to be ready to give a defense for the hope that lies within us (1 Peter 3:14-16). We must also be ready to bring the message of the gospel of the Kingdom to bear offensively so as to plunder the enemy's camp and rescue the perishing! Jesus instructed His Apostles to disciple the nations (Matthew 28:19-20). This means teaching them to both believe and obey. Trust and obedience go hand in hand. Real faith is always a faith that produces action and genuine fruit. Jesus’ instruction to the disciples presses the reality that our faith is on the march to penetrate and saturate all the world with the good news of the Kingdom of God! Showdown Finally, the mountain top may be the place for a showdown. The Prophet Elijah faces all the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18). It is possible that the Lord has brought us to a mountain top moment so that we can be an example of faithfulness to Christ even in the midst of persecution and opposition. It is possible that God has brought us to the mountain top moment so that He can demonstrate His power to bring about victory and salvation for His people. Remember the Mt. Carmel is not the mountain on which God brought His greatest work of victory. That mountain is called Golgotha (Matthew 27). Mountain top periods are sweet and needed at points in our journey with the Lord and toward the new heavens and the new earth where righteous dwells. May we enjoy these sweet times and may we not waste these precious moments! God Knows As Christians we are best known as “believers.” This is because we believe that Jesus died in our place for our sin according to what was prophesied beforehand in the scriptures. We also believe that Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day for our justification (Romans 4:22-25) according to the scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-8). In essence, we believe whatever God says. We are not captive to vain philosophies or even our own limitations. Because, while we don’t know all things, we do believe the one who knows all things. This means that when dealing with ideas and concepts that are beyond our finite capabilities we can know that what God tells us is true. This requires a real humility. It is not arrogance because our knowledge is not found in us, but in God who knows all things. Our assurance is God exalting because it is found in God not us (2 Corinthians 4:1-7). With this humility in mind, I would like for us to consider the amazing foreknowledge of God. How is it that God knows beforehand what will happen? The most common understanding is what I will call the “simple foreknowledge.” This view is that God in eternity before time was created looked forward into time to see what free creatures would do. This view has two great advantages. The first great advantage is its simplicity. It is uncomplicated and makes perfect sense within our finite framework. You could imagine that if you were in eternity you could also see with this type of foreknowledge. The second advantage is that it seems to protect the genuine freedom of the persons. The individuals are making choices that while God knows them beforehand he still knows them responsively not proactively. However, I would like to present a case for why the simple foreknowledge view is not consistent with an orthodox understanding of God. Premise #1 My first premise is that as believers drawing our understanding of God from the text of scripture, we believe that God is omniscient. By this I mean that God knows everything without qualification. In the introductory paragraph of this post I affirm twice that Christians believe that God knows all things. This means that God knows everything past, present, and future. This means that God has always known all things. This means that God knows more than just possibilities or probabilities, He knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:8-11). He not only knows what could happen He knows exhaustively and precisely what will happen. Premise #2 My second premise is that God is immutable. Immutable means that God is unchanging. He does not change. This means that if God ever changed then either He wasn’t God and became God when He changed or He was God and stopped being God when He changed. Both of these are ridiculous from a biblical perspective. God has always been God and will always be God. God Himself says clearly that He does not change (Malachi 3:6). The brother of the Lord Jesus states clearly that there is no variation in God at all (James 1:17). And the Hebrew writer asserts the truth that Jesus Christ is the same always (Hebrews 13:8). Conclusion If these two premises are true then simple foreknowledge cannot be true. Why? Because simple foreknowledge hinges on this point: that it was before time and in eternity when God learned what we, His free creatures, would do. But if God is all knowing and unchanging then He cannot learn. For God to learn would mean that His knowledge and understanding was changed. If this were true then God would be neither all knowing or immutable. So what is the alternative? Sovereignty! God has decreed whatsoever comes to pass. He has destined the world and its inhabits for His glory and as the redeemed possession of His Son (Psalm 2:7). He has made His decree before the ages began and all things happen purposefully and accordingly (1 Corinthians 2:7). I know that this is not the simplest understanding, but in the Biblical context it does seem to be the plainest meaning. Let us celebrate the fact that God is in control and accomplishing His purposes. Brothers and Sisters, we can trust Him for He is the just judge of all the world and He will always do right (Genesis 18:22-26)! Why? Growing up I was always confused at the idea of calling this ‘Good Friday.’ I understand that it is a necessary Friday, meaning Jesus had to die so that we could be saved from our sins. I also understand that it was Jesus’ purpose and intent to bear away our sins on the cross. However, Jesus’ suffering and the reality of my sin has always made me cringe at this day. I also think it is helpful to mourn the need for this day. The disciple’s were fearful and confused. Of course, they should have known by what Jesus had told them that He would rise from the grave, but if I had been there with them I have no doubt I would have been in the same state of fear and confusion with them. It was a dark day that hid the reality of victory. The morning sunrise on Sunday would show that the battle had already been won on Friday. Death defeated and defied! But still the day was dark and Jesus’ work was horrific. But let’s not miss this opportunity to remember all that Jesus was doing on the cross and in the grave. Physical Jesus’ death was a real physical death. One attempt to explain away the reality of Jesus’ death and resurrection has been to say that He only appeared to be in a physical body. But Jesus was a man with flesh and blood and that physical body was beaten and abused. He was gruesomely nailed to the cross of real wood. Imagine, Jesus nailed to a tree that He Himself created. Jesus' side was pierced and His own real lungs filled with fluid. His death was physical and included all the pain, vulgarity, and humiliation that was common to this horrid method of torturous death known as crucifixion. Voluntary Jesus’ death was a voluntary mission. Jesus’ life was not taken from Him. He willingly laid it down (John 10:17-18). Jesus’ redemptive work was not some kind of reactive response to the sin of man but actually the kind intent of God from eternity past to show and demonstrate His grave and love for unworthy sinners (Romans 5:8). Jesus’ voluntarily submitted to the will of the Father in accomplishing the grand plan of reconciliation between God who is Holy and man who is sinful (Matthew 26:39). Vicarious Jesus’ death was vicarious. Jesus actually and truly died for every believer. Jesus did not just potentially die for you. If you are a born again believer, then Jesus actually died in your place. This is known as substitutionary atonement. This means Jesus was actually standing in your place. Imagine that you were Barabbas (Matthew 27). Had Jesus not been, there is no doubt Barabbas would have hung on that cross, but Jesus' substitution for you was just as real and infinitely more important. Jesus was the substitution for Barabbas sparing Him the pain of the cross but He spared you from the pain of eternal hell. Victorious Jesus’ death put death to death, crushed the serpent’s head and washed away all the sins for His people. The reason we call this “Good Friday” is because it is the day the mission was accomplished! Jesus won the victory and landed the fatal blow against death and sin and Satan on that hill far away. Jesus was lifted up on that cross and He has never stopped drawing all men to Himself since that day. Today if He is drawing you, let me urge you to turn from the sin that made the cross necessary and place your trust in Jesus Christ who alone will save you from your sin and give you His righteous credit! Trust Him today so that you will live! |
AuthorEddie Ragsdale Archives
May 2024
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