Vote!

The Following is a letter sent to me from my friend, Ralph Reed, of the Faith and Freedom Coalition (whose Executive Director, Gary Marx, has ties to First Free--his mother attended our church years ago). I've modified some of it into my own words, but want to recommend it to you as a reminder of the importance of voting. I also encourage you to check out their website as a source of very helpful information regarding the election.

Dear Christian:

America is just weeks away from one of the most important elections of our lifetimes.
Christians are citizens too, and we should play a vital role in the civic life of our nation. Sadly, in 2008 there were 17 million Evangelical Christians who did not even bother to vote. You and I simply must not allow this to happen in 2012 through our collective inaction. As Christians, we are called to be “salt and light,” including in the civic arena, and the Bible teaches that our earthly citizenship carries certain rights and responsibilities. (Romans 13)
We know you have many competing obligations and opportunities. But with the stakes in this election so high, we urge you to make a priority of educating and informing yourself on where candidates stand.
God bless you for all you do to transform lives by sharing the Gospel message with others.

In His Service.

Faith and Freedom Coalition
www.FFCoalition.com

Gabby Douglas: God's Gymnast

God seems to be displaying Himself lately through a number of remarkable athletes. Tim Tebow, Jeremy Lin, and now Gabby Douglas. The following link is an interview of Gabby from her Pastor, Quintin Stieff. I've been to a number of retreats with Pastor Quinton as he serves at a one of our sister churches, Valley Church in West Des Moines, IA. He's a great pastor and Valley is a wonderful church. This also happens to be the church where our own Pastor Brandon Early has now accepted a call to be their Student Pastor. Please pray for these high profile athletes as they share the message of Christ. And pray that our nation will listen!

 http://youtu.be/P4kEwgS93Vg

Did Jesus Ever Sin?

The following is my answer to a question I recently was asked. Someone asked me if Jesus ever sinned, or if He could even sin if He wanted to. I was also asked if Jesus was born with a sinful nature like all other human beings.  I thought my answer may prove helpful to some of you:

Brother, here are three passages that clearly show Jesus never sinned. 1 John 3:5 also indicates that there was no sin whatsoever in Him. The sinful nature (that portion of ourselves that is sinful by nature) is, in itself, a form of sin’s pollution. The tendency to walk away from the Father is inherently sinful (that is, we are polluted by sin from the moment of conception and are prone towards it at times). Jesus had no such sinful tendency. The Spirit preserved His perfect, sinless, and divine nature through His immaculate conception (not Mary's, by the way--although Mary is the greatest woman who has ever lived--but that's another topic).

As for the question of whether He could have sinned or not, there has been considerable debate on this throughout history among very gifted and godly theologians. The "Impeccability" position holds that Jesus could not have sinned even if He wanted to. The "Peccability" position holds that Jesus could have indeed sinned and disobeyed the Father, but never did. I lean more toward the Peccability side, but agree with the old adage, “Jesus could have sinned but never would have sinned.” Hope that helps. Pastor Rusty

"15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin." Heb. 4:15

"He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone." 1 Pet. 2:22

"5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin." 1 John 3:5

You in Review

At First Free, we are in the process of our end of year reviews. Our fiscal calendar ends on Aug. 31, so I'm in the process of reviewing my direct reports and just went through my own review recently. Such times can be very helpful. If done honestly, a review can be a great encouragement for a job well-done as well as a time to reflect on areas that need improvement. When carried out correctly, a job review can be a great aid to increased excellence for an employee.
As I have reflected on the process at my job, the thought hit me that it could be helpful to have a tool to evaluate myself spiritually from time to time. The following is a tool I found helpful. It's borrowed and modified from the Ignite Worship blog.

FELLOWSHIP: CONNECTING Your Heart to Others'
•Grab a piece of paper and Rate 1 to 5 (1 being poor, 5 being outstanding)
1.I meet consistently with a smaller group of Christians.
2.I'm connected to other Christians who hold me accountable.
3.I can talk with spiritual mentors when I need help, advice, or support.
4.My Christian friends are a significant source of strength and stabilitiy in my life.
5.I regularly pray for others.
6.I have resolved all conflicts I have had with others.
7.I've done all I possibly can to be a good member of my family.

Take time to answer the following questions to further evaluate your spiritual health.
8. List the three most significant relationships you have right now. Why are these people important to you?
9. How would you describe the benefit you receive from being in fellowship with other Christians?
10. Do you have an accountability partner? If so, what have you been doing to hold each other accountable? If not, how can you get one?

DISCIPLESHIP: GROWING to Be Like Jesus
Rate 1 to 5 (1 being poor, 5 being outstanding)
1.I have regular times of conversation with God.
2.I'm closer to God this year than I was last year at this time.
3.I'm making better decisions this month when compared to last month.
4.I regularly attend church services and grow spiritually as a result.
5.I consistently honor God with my finances through giving.
6.I regularly study the Bible on my own.
7.I regularly memorize Bible verses or passages.

Take time to answer the following questions to further evaluate your spiritual health.
8. What books or chapters from the Bible have you read during the last month?
9. What has God been teaching you from Scripture lately?
10. What was the last verse you memorized? When did you memorize it? Describe the last time a memorized Bible verse helped you?

MINISTRY: SERVING Others in Love
1.I am currently serving in some ministry capacity.
2.I'm effectively ministering where I'm serving.
3.Generally I have a humble attitude when I serve others.
4.I understand God has created me a s a unique individual and he has a special plan for my life.
5.When I help others, I typically don't look for anything in return.
6.My family and friends consider me to be generally unselfish.
7.I'm usually sensitive to the hurts of others and respond in a caring way.

Take time to answer the following questions to further evaluate your spiritual health.
8. If you're currently serving in a ministry, why are you serving? If not, what's kept you from getting involved?
9. What spiritual lessons have you learned while serving?
10. What frustrations have you experienced as a result of serving?

EVANGELISM: SHARING Your Story and God's Story
Rate 1 to 5 (1 being poor, 5 being outstanding)

1.I regularly pray for my unbelieving friends.
2.I invite friends to church.
3.I talk about my faith with others.
4.I pray for opportunities to share about what Jesus has done in my life.
5.People know I'm a Christian by more than my words.
6.I feel a strong compassion for the lost.
7.I have written out my testimony (God-story) and am ready to share it.

Take time to answer the following questions to further evaluate your spiritual health.
8. Describe any significant spiritual conversations you've had with unbelievers in the past month.
9. Has your faith been challenged by any non-Christians? If yes, how?
10. What have been some difficulties you've faced with sharing you faith?
11. What success have you experienced recently in personal evangelism? (Success isn't limited to bringing people to salvation directly. Helping someone take a step closer at any point on his or her spiritual journey is success.)

WORSHIP: SURRENDERING Your Life to Honor God
Rate 1 to 5 (1 being poor, 5 being outstanding)
1.I consistently participate in worship experiences at church.
2.My heart breaks over the things that break God's heart.
3.I regularly give thanks to God.
4.I'm living a life that, overall, honors God.
5.I have an attitude of wonder and awe toward God.
6.I use the free access I have into God's presence often.

Take time to answer the following questions to further evaluate your spiritual health.
7. Make a list of your top five priorities. You can get a good idea of your priorities by evaluating how you spend your time. Be realistic and honest . Are your priorities in the right order? Do you need to get rid of some or add new priorities?
8. List ten things you're thankful for.
9. What influences, directs, guides, or controls you the most?

Harmonica in Carnegie

This has nothing to do with anything serious, but I liked it. It's not often that you hear of a harmonica concert in Carnegie Hall. While this music style is a little dated, I was blessed by it. I have a vivid memory of my father taking us to a Gaither concert in Lake Charles LA when I was a boy. This brought back some of that good time. Enjoy!

http://www.wimp.com/harmonicacarnegie/

Gay Marriage

To be honest, I hate addressing this issue. Judi and I have family members that we dearly love who are gay. We also have dear friends who are wonderful, loving, precious people . . .who are also gay. Years ago, several gay couples started attending my church. They sat in the front and faithfully attended every service, taking notes and learning the Word. But one year, I preached a series entitled "Things We Don't Talk About." The idea was to hit head-on topics churches typically avoid because of the fear of people. The titles included politics, other religions, and, you guessed it, homosexuality. A speaker and friend of mine who is an expert in the field of homosexuality asked if he could preach that week. Since he had done much ministry among homosexuals, I agreed. But his sermon was not well received. The gay couples were outraged by the message. This prompted me to invite them all over to our home. My wife, mother, and children served these friends homemade gumbo and we enjoyed a great meal together. We later retired to the living room and discussed their feelings. The evening was loving, civil, and very helpful to us all. They shared with me their stories and the pain they had received at the hands of Evangelicals. I was deeply grieved, to the point of tears. And I shared with them my firm belief that the Bible is a gift from God that teaches us how to live an optimal life. The restriction of sex within the covenant of biblical marriage between a man and a woman is not designed to hurt us but to bless us. And I affirmed that I will teach this principle to both gays and straights out of my belief that it leads to the best life. In addition, I shared my conviction to live up to to the vows I'd taken as a Minister of the Gospel. I simply will not break my vows to the Bible for political correctness. But, I also affirmed that I loved them all and considered it an honor to be their Pastor. And, because they knew me and had sat under my ministry for some time, they believed me. They knew that I really loved them. All but one stayed at our church and continued to enjoy it immensely.
So, before I give my thoughts on gay marriage, let's get something straight. I'm not a bigot and I don't hate homosexuals. I'm also not an isolationist who has refused to befriend gay people. My guess is that I have more homosexual friends and have done more ministry to homosexuals than the average person. These opinions are not forged from a fear of gays or a desire to assault freedom. On the contrary, my views come from a deep conviction that following the Bible helps everyone, gay or straight, Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal.
Now, on to a quick statement of why I'm against gay marriage.
1. Gay marriage is not biblical. The Bible does not recognize the concept. Marriage is always between a man and a woman in the Bible. Since I have vowed to uphold the Bible in all of its teachings and believe it outlines God's principles for life, I will never perform or endorse a gay marriage. God has spoken and I will revere His Word.
2. Sex outside of the marriage covenant is not ideal. Since the Bible defines marriage as between a man and woman, and gives married couples the gift of sex exclusively, I also affirm that the purest form of sex is reserved for marriage. If a man or woman is engaged in sex outside of this covenant, it is not blessed of God and is not, therefore, ideal. I, therefore, do not encourage sex outside of marriage for anyone, regardless of sexual orientation.
3. The marriage covenant is crucial for children. Since marriage is the foundation of the family and society, there are repercussions for what we as a society endorse. For example, it is an established fact that children do better when they have both a father and a mother. This is beyond dispute from both a scientific and, more importantly, a biblical standpoint. Therefore, to endorse same sex marriage in any way as an ideal will undoubtedly promote family units where either a father or a mother is absent in the lives of children. Some will say, "well, isn't it better to have two loving mothers or two loving fathers than to have a traditional family that's dysfunctional?" But such an argument is irrelevant to the point. The ideals we endorse become our realities. The existence of poor traditional families does not mean that a healthy traditional family is impossible or should not be emphasized as THE goal.
4. To not promote THE ideal is to lower the bar and, therefore, hurt society. Since President Obama and other prominent leaders have now promoted redefining marriage to include gay couples (even celebrating this as an alternative ideal), he has added to the demise of the actual ideal scenario for children and, therefore, contributed to a further weakening of our society. As much as I admire about our President, I believe he made a terrible mistake in his recent "evolution."

Two final points: 1. The gay couples of our church mentioned above agreed with me on much of this. They did not support gay marriage. Many gays do not agree with this agenda. 2. Many in the black community are offended by the argument that marriage is a civil rights issue. Marriage is a gift, not a right. If a man asks a woman to marry him and she says no, he does not have a right to marry her. If a six year old asks a thirty year old to marry him, he does not have a right to that marriage. Marriage is a blessing not a right. The following debate between two African American pastors on this issue may be of interest. While I didn't like some of its volatility, I found it to be a fascinating discussion.

http://www.dennyburk.com/dwight-mckissic-debates-gay-marriage-on-the-laura-ingraham-show/

Is Jesus Misquoted?

A very popular book today about the Bible is Bart Ehrman's Misquoting Jesus. I saw it recently prominently displayed at Barnes and Noble. Dr. Ehrman is a former Evangelical who claims the Bible that we have today is significantly not the original Bible of the Apostles. After studying his arguments, from my perspective, his greatest point is that there are variant readings in the manuscripts behind our translations that suggest some doctoring has happened. Here's the problem: even he suggests that the cardinal truths of our faith are not affected by these variants (most of them are spelling errors and the like). Another issue that is worth mentioning is that our current New Testament has more corroborating manuscript evidence than any other form of ancient Greco Roman literature by far. In other words, we have more evidence supporting our New Testament's reliability than any scholar on the planet has for the writings of Plato, Homer, or the Caesars.The following link is a 10 minute discussion of Ehrman's claims given by Dr. Dan Wallace (my former Greek Prof.-Go Dallas Seminary!) and Dr. Darrell Bock. It is moderated by John Ankerberg. I found it fascinating.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftHecLxquCg&feature=related