Is the Bible Trustworthy? Part 2

Posted June 10, 2009 by steveaholt
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ever since Satan challenged God’s promises and Eve succumbed (Gen. 3:1-7), the enemy of our souls has been attacking God’s Word with his own version of what God means.  As soon as Jesus made His first move toward His mission, Lucifer was ready to challenge His every word.  During Jesus’ time of fasting and prayer for forty days, Satan came to contradict the words of Jesus with his own interpretation of Scripture.  And as a result, for thousands of years, men have been tempted to distrust, doubt, and deny the validity of God’s holy Word. 

As a missionary and pastor I have heard just about every conceivable question and interpretation of the Bible that man has to offer.  While some of them have bordered on the ridiculous, many comments are simply based out of ignorance and are sincerely asked in a search for truth.  It is with such people in mind, and the many at Mountain Springs who regularly ask me thought-provoking questions, that I write this article.

I would refer any reader to my sermon in the doctrine series, The Bible: God Speaks, given April 24th, 2009, for further elaboration on the topic of the Bible in general.

This is part two in my blog on Bible translations.  If you would like to understand the context of the last blog, let me encourage you to read part one first.

God’s Publishing Process

How did we get our current Bible? Is the English translation that you are using reliable?  Can you have confidence that the Bible you are holding is anything like the manuscripts written by the first authors?  These are excellent questions.  The Bible purports to have divine qualities.  But does it really?  And if so, how were these qualities passed down through the generations to make up our English version of the Bible?

There is a divine process that has been used by God to give us our current Bible.  This process can be summed up in a five part process:  Revelationà Inspirationà Canonicityà Preservation à Transmission. In part one, we concerned ourselves with revelation and inspiration.  In part two, we will continue our look at God’s publishing process.

Canonicity

John MacArthur writes, “We must understand that the Bible is actually one book with one Divine Author, though it was written over a period of 1,500 years through the pens of 40 human writers.  The Bible began with the creation account of Genesis 1, 2 written by Moses about 1405 B.C., and extends to the eternity future account of Revelation 21, 22, written by the Apostle John about A.D. 95.  During this time, God progressively revealed Himself and His purposes in the inspired Scriptures.” (Study Bible p. xiv)

This raises a significant question: “How did the church know which books ought to be recognized as canonical or authoritative?  Which writings should be included and excluded?”  We find three ways that the early church fathers determined the authenticity of a book for the Bible.

  1. Conformity to “the rule of faith.” Did the book in question conform with orthodoxy?  Christian truth recognized as normative in the churches?
  2. Apostolicity. Was the writer of the book an apostle or did the writer of the book have immediate contact with the apostles? For example, Mark’s gospel was tied to Peter and Luke’s to Paul.
  3. Catholicity. For a document to be considered canonical it must have had widespread and continuous acceptance and usage by churches everywhere.

Thus, when the various councils in church history met to determine the authenticity of a book, they did not vote for canonicity, rather they recognized what the churches had come to determine as authoritative.  Much like ordination in our church, we are not ordaining anyone but simply publically recognizing someone who God is already ordaining through the life they live and witness of their ministry.  In a similar way, the church fathers and theologians who came together recognized the twenty-seven books that became the New Testament as being authoritative based on the criteria above and the consensus of the church.  In simplistic form, the church already believed these books to be the canon of Scripture and the councils confirmed what was already common knowledge.

In regard to the Old Testament, MacArthur writes, “With regard to the Old Testament, by the time of Christ, all of the Old Testament had been written and accepted in the Jewish community.  The last book, Malachi, had been completed about 430 B.C.  Not only does the Old Testament canon conform to the Old Testament which has since been used throughout the centuries, but it does not contain the uninspired and spurious Apocrypha, that group of 14 rogue writings which were written after Malachi and attached to the Old Testament about 200-150 B.C. in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament called the Septuagint (LXX), appearing to the very day in some versions of the Bible.  However, not one passage from the Apocrypha is cited by any New Testament writer, nor did Jesus affirm any of it as He recognized the Old Testament canon of His era (cf. Luke 24:27,44).” (ibid, p. xv)

Carson and Moo write, “The fact that substantially the whole church came to recognize the same twenty-seven books as canonical is remarkable when it is remembered that the result was not contrived. All that the several churches throughout the Empire could do was to witness to their own experience with the documents and share whatever knowledge they might have about their origin and character. When consideration is given to the diversity in cultural backgrounds and in orientation to the essentials of the Christian faith within the churches, their common agreement about which books belonged to the New Testament serves to suggest that this final decision did not originate solely at the human level.” (Barker, Lane, and Michaels, The New Testament Speaks, p. 29; qtd. in Carson, Moo, and Morris, An Introduction to the New Testament, p. 736).

The completed Bible was formulated early in the history of the church.  By the end of the second century all but seven books (Hebrews, 2 and 3 John, 2 Peter, Jude, James, and Revelation) were recognized as apostolic, and by the end of the fourth century all twenty-seven books in our present canon were recognized by all the churches of the West.

F. F. Bruce writes: “One thing must be emphatically stated. The New Testament books did not become authoritative for the Church because they were formally included in a canonical list; on the contrary, the Church included them in her canon because she already regarded them as divinely inspired, recognizing their innate worth and generally apostolic authority, direct or indirect. The first ecclesiastical councils to classify the canonical books were both held in North Africa—at Hippo Regius in 393 and at Carthage in 397—but what these councils did was not to impose something new upon the Christian communities but to codify what was already the general practice of these communities” (F. F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?, p. 27).


Preservation

How do we know for sure that the Bible that was first written down by the original authors has been preserved and handed down to us accurately?  How do we know for sure that the Bible you are holding is truly the inspired, written Word of God?

Critics of the accuracy of the Bible routinely claim that it is in fact a series of fables and legends that have developed over hundreds of years because there are not enough copies of ancient manuscripts to alleviate their skepticism. However, a simple shepherd boy dealt a death blow to their criticisms in 1947. He wandered into a cave in the Middle East and discovered large pottery jars filled with leather scrolls that had been wrapped in linen cloth.

Amazingly, the ancient copies of the books of the Bible were in good condition despite their age and the harsh climate.  This was due to the fact that they had been well sealed for nearly nineteen hundred years. What are now known as “The Dead Sea Scrolls” are made up of some forty thousand inscribed ancient fragments.  From these fragments, more than five hundred books have been reconstructed, including some Old Testament books such as a complete copy of Isaiah.

I have visited on several occasions the Dead Sea Museum and viewed for myself the entire book of Isaiah.  The amazing thing is that the fragments found, the book of Isaiah in particular, are word for word the same as the Old Testament that we use today.

If someone seeks to eliminate the trustworthiness of the New Testament, then to be consistent they would also have to dismiss virtually the entire canon of Western literature and pull everything from Homer to Plato to Aristotle off of bookstore shelves and out of classroom discussions. The transmission process of Scripture is, by God’s providential grace, without peer.

The Bible says thus about itself in Isaiah 40:8, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.”   With increased archeological discoveries, the truth of this statement become more and more clear.

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.  (Isaiah 55:11)

Transmission

The Bible has been translated into over 3000 languages.  How can we be sure that these translations are accurate?  How can we be confident that our English Bible reads the same as the original autographs written by Paul and Peter?  Let’s look now at transmission through the centuries. 

Transmission occurred when the autographa was carefully copied by trained scribes so that other copies could be made available for people to read. While these handwritten copies have the occasional minor error (e.g., spelling or punctuation):

  • They were accepted as accurate and authoritative by God’s people (e.g., Deuteronomy 17:18 cf. 1 Kings 2:3; Ezra 7:14; Nehemiah 8:8). For example, the apostles, who were the senior leaders in the early church, taught from copies of the books of the Bible. (Acts 17:2; 18:8)
  • The early church tested all teachings against the existing scrolls. (Acts 17:11)
  • Furthermore, Jesus Himself taught from copies of the books, not the autographa, and treated them as authoritative. (e.g., Matthew 12:3–5; 21:16, 42; Luke 4:16–21; 10:26)
  • In conclusion, God’s people have always relied on manuscripts, and these writings have proven to be accurate and trustworthy. Jesus’ own perfect example assures us of their trustworthiness.

Tragically, opponents of Scripture have attacked the Bible’s trustworthiness by falsely stating that our current English translations are built upon poorly transmitted copies. However, the bibliographical test of Scripture flatly refutes this false argument. The bibliographical test seeks to determine the historicity of an ancient text by analyzing the quantity and quality of copied manuscripts, as well as how far removed they are from the time of the originals.

The quantity of New Testament manuscripts is unparalleled in ancient literature. There are more than five thousand Greek manuscripts, about eight thousand Latin manuscripts, and another one thousand manuscripts in other languages (Syriac, Coptic, etc.). Both the number of transmitted manuscripts we possess of Scripture and their proximity in date to the autographa are astounding and unparalleled in the canon of Western literature. Moreover, the Scripture quoted in the works of the early Christian writers (mostly AD 95–150) are so extensive that virtually the entire New Testament can be reconstructed, except for eleven verses, mostly from 2 and 3 John.

Our English Bible

The translation of a full English Bible began with John Wycliffe (ca. A.D. 1330-1384), who made the first translation of the whole of Scripture (Old and New Testament).  Later, William Tyndale was associated with the first New Testament translation of the Bible in A.D. 1526.  Myles Coverdale followed in A.D. 1535, by delivering the first complete Bible printed in English.  In 1611, the King James Version (KJV) had been completed.  Since then, there have been many translations printed from the Greek and Hebrew Scriptures.  In my next blog we will look at each of the major translations and analyze their strengths and weaknesses.

Carpe Diem Gloriae Dei,

Steve

Comments: Be the first to comment

Bible Translations – Are They Trustworthy?

Posted May 19, 2009 by steveaholt
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Part I
Ever since Satan challenged God’s promises and Eve succumbed to temptation (Gen. 3:1-7), the enemy of our souls has been attacking God’s Word with his own version of what God means.  As soon as Jesus made His first move toward His mission, Lucifer was ready to challenge His every word.  During Jesus’ time of fasting and prayer for forty days, Satan came to contradict the words of Jesus with his own interpretation of Scripture.  And as a result, for thousands of years men have been tempted to distrust, doubt, and deny the validity of God’s holy Word. 

As a missionary and pastor I have heard just about every conceivable question and interpretation of the Bible that man has to offer.  While some of them have bordered on the ridiculous, many comments are simply based out of ignorance and are sincerely asked in a search for truth.  It is with such people in mind, and the many at Mountain Springs who regularly ask me thought-provoking questions, that I write this article.

I would refer any reader to my sermon in the doctrine series, The Bible: God Speaks, given April 24th, 2009, (sermons.mountainsprings.org) for further elaboration on the topic of the Bible in general.

If I were the Devil…
If I were the Devil (please no comment), I would do everything in my power to keep people from digging into and loving God’s Word, the Bible.  I would especially attack the “inspiration” part of God’s publishing process.  If I could attack the very inspiration, “God-breathed” part of heaven’s transmission to mankind, I could potentially win the battle for the validity of the Bible.

If I were the Devil, I would do everything possible to distort the Bible’s accuracy. If I were the Devil, I would do everything possible to create doubts in the minds of people about it’s authenticity.  I would do all I could to create confusion over it’s meaning.  I would send out my minions to distort and lie about its purpose.

I would broadcast through the media and governments of the world that the Bible has no bearing on real life issues like marriage, family, and happiness.  I would broadcast through the educational system that it is archaic and old fashioned.  If I were Satan, I would do everything possible to get the Bible out of the schools, out of government, and out of mainstream society.

Wow, I guess I would do just what he’s already doing!

Reformation Legacy
Two of the greatest legacies of the Reformation in the 16th Century were that of the Bible being translated into the vernacular (language) of the people and, secondly, that anyone could privately interpret the Bible for his/her own life.

While under the questioning of the imperial authorities about his writings, Luther’s famous reply at the Diet of Worms was, “Unless I am convinced by Sacred Scripture or by evident reason, I cannot recant. For my conscience is held captive by the Word of God and to act against conscience is neither right nor safe.  Here I stand, I can do no other, God help me.”

Luther believed that the Pope and councils could err and his only true source of truth was the Bible because the Bible never errs!  The gift of the reformation is that God wants all of us to have His Word in our hands, written in a way that we can easily understand.  And that each one of us can use reason, good sense, and an understanding of doctrine to hear God’s voice.

God speaks!  God speaks today!  God speaks today to every believer.  God speaks today to every believer through the Scriptures.  God’s Word to us is the Bible.  Someone says, “you mean you read the Bible literally” and my response is “Of course I do!”  There’s no other way to read it.  Who in their right mind wouldn’t?

The Bible should be interpreted in its literal sense.  This was Luther’s principle of interpreting the Bible, sensus literalis.  Literalis means in Latin that we interpret it as literature according to the normal rules of grammar, syntax, and context.  In other words, we interpret poetry as poetry, history as historical fact, idiom as idiom, etc.  To not read any piece of literature literally is to distort it’s intent and meaning.  So, to be true to the general rules of reading literature, yes we always read and believe the Bible literally!

To begin our journey into how we have arrived at the current translations of the Bible we must begin with the book itself and what it says.

The Bible’s Self-Disclosure Clause
What does the Bible say about itself?  If you pick up and read the Bible for every long you quickly realize that it often speaks about itself.  Over 2,000 times the Bible in the Old Testament alone claims to be God’s Word spoken to man.  The phrase “the Word of God” occurs over 40 times in the New Testament.  In brief, here are a few choice passages of statements from Scripture about Scripture:

• Inspired Word of God Almighty — 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:19–21

• Able to develop a person fully — 2 Timothy 3:17

• The very words of God — 1 Thessalonians 2:13

• Without error — Ps. 12:6; 119:140; 30:5a

• All we need to know about God — Luke 16:29, 31

• A perfect guide for life — Proverbs 6:23

• Pure — Psalm 12:6; 119:140

• True — Psalm 119:160; John 17:17

• Trustworthy — Proverbs 30:5–6

• Perfect — Psalm 19:7

• Effective — Isaiah 55:11

• Powerful — Hebrews 4:12

• Nothing to be taken from or added to — Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32

• For everyone — Romans 16:25–27

• To be obeyed — James 1:22

Some poetic images from Scripture about Scripture:
• Sweet like honey — Psalm19:10

• A lamp to guide our life — Psalm 119:105

• Food for our soul — Jeremiah 15:16

• A fire that purifies and a hammer that breaks us — Jeremiah 23:29

• A sword — Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12

• A seed for salvation planted in us — James 1:21

• Milk that nourishes us — 1 Peter 2:2

By its own declaration, the importance of Scripture can hardly be overstated. Psalms 19 and 119, plus Proverbs 30:5-6 make incredible statements about the innate power and life of God’s Word.  Let me encourage you to read these passages and ask God to speak to your heart concerning the Word of God.

Jesus Affirms the Bible
Jesus said that He came to fulfill everything in the Scriptures.  By His claims, Jesus endorsed and gave authority to the Bible.  Many times in conversations about the Bible I have asked people, “Do you believe that Jesus was a good man?  Do you think He would lie?” The answer is always is a resounding “yes” or “no.” It is from that vantage point that I present what Jesus believed about the Bible.  Here are a few of His proclamations about the Scriptures:

Luke 24:27  “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”

Luke 24:44-47  He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

Matthew 5:17  “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

John 5:39  “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about Me.”

Jesus clearly articulates his prophetic fulfillment of the Scripture.  By His very words, Jesus affirms the supernatural nature of the Bible.

What is the Bible?
The Bible is the bestselling book of all time, and is now available in nearly three thousand languages.  The Bible is made up of 66 individual books written over a period of 1500 years, written by kings, peasants, shepherds, law givers, law breakers, fishermen, historians, prophets, tax collectors, missionaries, and poets.  The Scriptures were written in palaces, caves, houses, and prisons.  They were written in three languages: Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic.

In light of this, the Bible is really more of a library of books rather than a single book. I like to say, “Old Testament concealed; New Testament revealed,” meaning that the Bible makes promises and prophetic predictions in the Old Testament that are concealed from our understanding until we read the New Testament.  The New Testament is the revealer and fulfiller of the Old.  Hence there is great unity between the two testaments.

This point is illustrated by the fact that the New Testament has roughly three hundred explicit Old Testament quotations, as well as upwards of four thousand Old Testament allusions. In many ways, the Old Testament is a series of promises that God makes and the New Testament is the record of the fulfillment of those promises.

A lecturer at the University of Paris created the Bible’s chapter divisions in the early 1200s, which accounts for our current 1,189 chapter divisions. Its current 31,173 verse divisions were not fully developed until 1551, in an effort to provide addresses (not unlike those on our homes) that would help us find particular sections.

God’s Publishing Process
But how did we get our current Bible? Is the English translation that you are using reliable?  Can you have confidence that the Bible you are holding is anything like the manuscripts written by the first authors?  These are excellent questions.  The Bible purports to have divine qualities.  But does it really?  And if so, how were these qualities passed down through the generations to make up our English version of the Bible?
There is a divine process that has been used by God to give us our current Bible.  This process can be summed up in five part process: 
1.) Revelation
2,) Inspiration
3.)  Canonicity
4.) Preservation
5.) Transmission

Revelation
God has chosen to lift the fog of human speculation with divine revelation. Whereas speculation is the human attempt to comprehend God, revelation is God’s communication to humanity with clarity that is otherwise impossible. Revelation is the miraculous event whereby God revealed Himself and His Truth to someone and inspired them, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to write down what He had to say—perfectly. This original copy is called the autographa.

It is important that we understand that there are two kinds of Revelation:

1. General Revelation (Ps. 19:1–4; 94:8–10; Rom. 1:19–21): the personal act of God by which He makes Himself known to humanity in general through his creation, providence, and conscience so that they might come into relationship with Him.

John Calvin on general revelation: “God not only has sowed in our minds that seed of religion but revealed Himself and daily discloses Himself in the whole creation and preservation of the universe. As a result, humans can not open their eyes without being compelled to see God.” (Inst. I, V, 1)

2. Special Revelation (2 Tim. 3:16; Heb. 1:1): the personal act of God by which He makes Himself known to many people by His redemptive word-work so that they might come into relationship with Him.

We read in Hebrews, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets” (Hebrews 1:1)  The means may have varied throughout Biblical history.  At times God spoke through visions, dreams, prophetic sermons, etc. but God’s unequivocal standard has always been the bedrock of His divine Word.  God has taken the initiative to reveal Himself to man.  The revealed and written Word of God is the only revelation of God for all time.  God’s special revelation is most specific, most powerful, and most trustworthy revelation is through the 66 books of the finished canon, the Bible.

Inspiration
We read in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”  The Greek translation for “inspiration” is Theopnest, meaning “God breathed” or “breathed out by God,” This talks about the Word of God, the Bible speaks out to us!  God is the One who is speaking, even as He uses human agents to write down His words—but make no mistake about it, God is the One who is speaking. 

The belief that God wrote Scripture in concert with human authors whom He inspired to perfectly record His words is called verbal (the very words of the Bible) plenary (every part of the Bible) inspiration (are divinely inspired revelation). Very simply, this means that God the Holy Spirit inspired not just the thoughts of Scripture, but also the very details and exact words that were perfectly recorded for us as Scripture.
This doctrine is inextricably tied to the character of God Himself. God is a truthful God who does not lie (Heb. 6:18; Titus 1:2). Therefore, because God is ultimately the author of Scripture, it is perfect, unlike every other uninspired writing and utterance.

Peter says that “no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:20–21).

Christians believe that Scripture is our highest authority, or metaphorical Supreme Court, by which all other lesser authorities are tested. Practically, this means that lesser courts of reason, tradition, and culture are under the highest court of truth, which is divinely-inspired Scripture.

During the Protestant Reformation, the slogan sola scriptura (and sometimes prima scriptura) became popular to summarize this conviction; it means Scripture alone is our highest authority. This should not be confused with solo scriptura, which is the erroneous belief that truth is only to be found in Scripture and nowhere else. Scripture itself tells us that God reveals truth to us in such things as creation and our conscience, but that the beliefs we may subscribe to from such forms of lesser revelation are to be tested by Scripture.

In part two, I will take up a further discussion of God’s publishing process as we look at the further development of the Bible that we currently have in our possession.  I will also begin to look at the different translations of the English Bible and how they differ. 

Carpe Diem Gloriae Dei,

Steve

Comments: 2 Comments

Theology on Fire

Posted April 20, 2009 by steveaholt
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

In the 24-page summary of the 2009 American Religious Identification Survey, one reads that in the past two decades the percentage of identified Christians in America has dropped 10 points.  The number of Americans who say they have no religious affiliation has nearly doubled since 1990, rising from 8 to 15 percent.  Al Mohler Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary takes note, “A remarkable culture shift has taken place around us.  The most basic contours of American culture have been radically altered.  The so-called Judeo-Christian consensus of the last millennium has given way to a post-modern, post-Christian, post-Western cultural crisis which threatens the very heart of our culture.”  I couldn’t agree more. 

Christians in America are morally exhausted.  After one political and cultural fight after another has ended in defeat, the church is tired.  With a family structure that is not just crumbling, but is in a moral free fall (this year over 40% of the babies born will be out-of-wedlock).  With a constant emphasis on trying to change the culture through political change, and with many evangelical presidents for the past 25 years, it is increasingly obvious that the occupier of the oval office has little power to change the hearts and minds of the American populace.  Don’t get me wrong, I still believe very strongly in trying to influence the culture through the political arena.  But there’s more to the story than politics.

It seems that the pulpit in America is theologically exhausted.  With an increased ambiguity among pastors about what exactly they believe and adhere their convictions toward, the evangelical church is battling for her very spiritual soul.  Just last week, one of the most prominent evangelical pastors in America, Rick Warren, made a public apology for his involvement in Proposition 8, a California bill last November that defined marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman.  If we as pastors are now feeling compelled to apologize for the most basic of our biblical beliefs, we are in big trouble.

But do we even know our basic core beliefs anymore?  George Orwell wrote in 1939, “We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men.”  This might well be written to the evangelical church in America.  As Chuck Colson has recently written in a column entitled, “Doctrine bears repeating,” he concludes, “The greatest challenge for serious Christians today is not reinventing Christianity, but rediscovering its core teaching.” (CT April 2009, p. 72) I believe the church is entering a time in which we must really know what we believe, not just how we should vote in elections. 

If there was ever a time in the history of the Western Church to know what our foundations of faith are, and why, it is now!  J.I. Packer on his 80th birthday said that the greatest challenge facing evangelicalism is to re-catechize our churches.  More than ever, Christ followers must be able to speak intelligently and with passion about what they believe.  We must have hearts and heads on fire for God!  The Dogma is the Drama!

We quite simply must have a theology on fire.  John D. Woodbridge and Thomas McComisky writes, “A church that neither is interested in theology nor has the capacity to think theologically is a church that will be rapidly submerged beneath the waves of modernity.” Doctrine and Theology is the “study of God” and it’s this endeavor that separates us, the church, from all other institutions.

Last June, the Pew Foundation on Religion and Public Life survey discovered that American Christians don’t really know what they believe.  Fifty seven percent of evangelicals believed people who follow other religions other than Christianity can enjoy eternal life!  Almost half believed that everyone, including atheists will go to heaven when they die.  Hello?

The prophet Jeremiah in his ministry of calling the Israelites back from their apostacy wrote,

Thus says the LORD:
“Stand in the ways and see,
And ask for the old paths, where the good way is,
And walk in it;
Then you will find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’”
(Jeremiah 6:16)

The old ways are still the new ways if they are God’s ways.  God has shown us The Way.  Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”  (John 14:6)  His way is still the right way, even when all the other ways oppose it.  The early church grasped this at the risk of their own lives.  As they proclaimed a “One Way God” to a many ways culture, they “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6) and rocked the religious, political, and social culture of the Roman Empire.  It is interesting that Luke, in compiling his history of the early church, chose to mention first in his list of the characteristics of the early church, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine…” (Acts 2:42a).  Foremost to the historian Luke was the doctrine they taught.

So, I am compelled to repeat the obvious.  It is a time in our history to return to the fundamentals and deep theological truths that have laid the foundations of our Faith. We have foundations laid and it’s the cornerstone, Jesus, that holds it all together.  A return to Jesus and His ways is the answer for the 21st century.  The ways of Jesus are the great theological truths found in the Scriptures. 

I certainly can’t speak for other pastors, but I want to be a pastor whose heart and head are on fire for Jesus.  I want to continue to build a church of heart en-fired and head en-fired people. I am feeling compelled these days to restudy Luke and Acts to observe the truths and actions of Jesus and the early church found there.  Simultaneously, I’m restudying the great doctrines of Christianity.  Join me as we retool and reinvigorate our head and hearts for the kingdom of God.  We can certainly do less, but we can’t do more than have a theology on fire for Jesus!

If you are a member of Mountain Springs, join us over the next two months as we study the great doctrines of our Faith.

Carpe Diem Gloriae Dei,
Pastor Steve

Comments: Be the first to comment

Revolutionary Love

Posted February 13, 2009 by steveaholt
Categories: Mountain Springs Church
Tags: , , , ,

I’m sitting in the R&R coffee shop in Black Forest thinking about the message of the apostle of love.  If you’ve been listening to my messages the past three months at MSC, you know that I’m caught up with this apostle of love and his epistle of love.  I call it a “revolutionary love” because it is, well, just so revolutionary.   It is so foreign to our thinking.  It is so foreign in most of our churches.  It is so foreign in most of our relationships. 

It is the passion of one of the twelve, a man who called himself, “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”  The apostle John was enraptured and overtaken with the love of Jesus.  He just can’t contain himself as he scribes his letter to the church.  Fifty six times John speaks of love in this small letter!  No other book of the Bible so speaks as often and so repeatedly on the theme of love. 

John wrote his first letter for two reasons.  First, he was aghast at the success of the Gnostic teachers in pulling the believers in Ephesus away from their new found faith.  John is writing his letter to refute the false theology and practice of these first century cultists.  But, secondly, John is emphasizing that real belief in the real God is best expressed and proven, not by persuasive arguments but through a lifestyle of love.  John wants us to understand with our heart that “God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in Him.” (1 John 4:16b)

From a “Son of Thunder” to an “Apostle of Love”

John didn’t start out as the apostle of love. Just like Simon, whom Jesus renamed Peter, the Rock, Jesus saw the raw unsanctified man John, a rugged fisherman who had a plan for his own life.  Jesus could see the raw ambition and lust for power. Jesus recognized the outspoken, brash, and intense personality of John.  So, looking at John one day, Jesus renamed him “Boanerges” the Aramaic name for a “Son of Thunder.”

John and his brother James were probably the most ambitious of all the disciples.  It was John who led the discussion about who is the greatest among the disciples. It was John who forbade a man from casting out demons because they were not in the inner circle of the disciples.  They certainly had no scruples about making their intentions and ambitions known:

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask.” 36 And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” 37 They said to Him, “Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you ask. Can you drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” 39 They said to Him, “We are able.” So Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; 40 but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared.” 41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John. (Mark 10:35-41)

Just do “whatever we ask”? Is this not the picture of arrogance and presumption? Then when Jesus challenged them if they understood what they were asking, they didn’t back down one bit.  They said “we are able”! This is most definitely a son of thunder.

But here’s what I find amazing.  Jesus never lost faith in John.  In spite of such arrogance and pride, Jesus loved John.  Jesus saw something in John that even John didn’t see in himself.  Can you imagine the incredible love Jesus had for John that he would take this ambitious, even foolish man into His inner circle and so deeply love him?

Jesus had a vision for John.  Jesus could see that love for God and the kingdom would replace lust for power and position.  John never lost his personality as a Son of Thunder, but instead of a passion for position, John was transformed into a Son of Thunder for God’s love. John would be changed from being full of himself to being full of God’s love.

Somewhere in his journey, John was changed from being a “Son of Thunder” to becoming “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”  I believe John experienced the love of Jesus day after day and this love of the Spirit chipped away at his ambition and lust.  This constant exposure to the light of the agape love of Jesus gradually drove back the darkness in John’s life.

John was so transformed by the love of Jesus that he even forgets who he once was.  In all of his writings, John never identifies himself as a Son of Thunder. But five times in his gospel he self identifies as “the one whom Jesus loved.”  John mentions God’s love twenty six times in his gospel, almost more than all the other three gospels combined.  If we combine John’s mentioning of agape love in all his letters, it is over seventy five times! John is overwhelmed with the revolutionary love of His Savior, Friend , and Lord.

As an old man, at 90 years old, John wrote his signature of how he wanted to be remembered, “Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper. “ (John 21:20)  John wanted to be remembered, not for what he had done for Jesus, but rather how he related to Jesus. John’s identity was based in his relationship with Jesus not his ministry for Jesus. 

The Thunder of God’s Heart

John had discovered that the thunder of God’s heart is love.  Jesus didn’t die of asphyxiation while on the cross, Jesus didn’t die from shock on the cross, Jesus died of a broken heart.  Jesus died because of His great love for you and me.  And the greatest act and symbol of the love of Christ is the cross.  Mother Teresa once wrote,

Our vocation is the conviction that “I belong to Him.” Because I belong to Him, He must be free to use me.  I must surrender completely.  When we look at his cross, we understand his love.  His head is bent down to kiss us.  His hands are extended to embrace us.  His heart is wide open to receive us.  This is what we have to be in the world today.  We too must have our head bent down to our people—they are Jesus in disguise…He said, “You did it to Me.  I was hungry…I was naked…I was homeless.” Let us not make the mistake of thinking that the hunger is only for a piece of bread.  The hunger today is much greater; it is a hunger for love, to be wanted, to be cared for, to be somebody.  (Mother Teresa: Contemplative at the Heart of the World by Angelo Devananda)

All of us are hungry for this love—it is the true longing, the true desire of our lives.  We all need a revolution of love.  John knew this love and he wrote 1 John that we would understand with our heart that each of us can be renamed, “the disciple whom Jesus loves,” present tense.

Jesus’ arms are open wide to embrace you!  Jesus’ heart is wide open to bless you!  Jesus wants your heart.  John Eldredge writes,

What [God] is after is us—our laughter, our tears, our dreams, our fears, our heart of hearts.  Remember his lament in Isaiah, that though his people were performing all their duties, “their hearts were far from Me” (29:13)  How few of us really believe this.  We’ve never been wanted for our heart, our truest self, not really, not for long.  The thought that God wants our heart seems too good to be true.  (The Sacred Romance)

God wants your heart!  He wants to know you deeply just for the fact that He created you for fellowship, and really loves you.  This is the revolution:  discovering the thunder of God’s heart for you.  Have you discovered this love?

Comments: 1 Comment

Ted Haggard Aftershocks and the Seismic Shift

Posted January 27, 2009 by steveaholt
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , ,

God is shaking the church in Colorado Springs…again.  It’s brutal to be going through the controversies of Ted Haggard all over again.  I hate to see our wonderful city and our many great churches subjected again to the feeding frenzy of the media. The aftershocks of the earthquake that occurred two years ago are still being felt.

You need to know something.  I really love our city.  I love the people of Colorado Springs.  I love the beauty of the mountains rising so majestically that any window looking west can see them.  I like that we care about our families so much that we constantly vote for pro-family policies.  I like that we are blessed with one of the lowest crime rates in the country for cities of comparable size. 

Liz and I moved our family here 14 years ago to plant Mountain Springs Church.  During that time we have seen a lot of churches rise and fall.  As a pastor, I have gained life-long pastoral friends and seen others leave their churches.  Some of our experiences have been really sad; most really joyful.  Probably one of the most shocking and distressing experiences of my pastoral life was the revelation that my friend and fellow pastor, Ted Haggard, had been having an ongoing sexual relationship with a prostitute in Denver.  It rocked the city; it rocked the church; it rocked my life.  It was a moral and spiritual earthquake for our city and for our churches.

The tremors of the aftershock are being felt once again.  On Saturday the story of another allegation against Ted Haggard hit the newsstands.  I was with the new senior pastor of New Life Church, Brady Boyd, drinking coffee as the story was breaking.  He was leaving our meeting to field questions from the press. 

This coming week will not get any better.  This Thursday night, Ted Haggard will be on Larry King and has already recorded an Oprah Winfrey Show.  He is promoting an HBO documentary of his fall, airing on the same night.  And once again, our city and our churches will be subjected to the litany of questions and demeaning remarks that reflect a skeptical public and a weary pastorate. 

As a pastor of a church in Colorado Springs, I’m experiencing mixed emotions.  On the one hand, my heart goes out to Ted, who was always a good friend to me.  When I was starting MSC, I could always depend on him to help with a word of advice or encouragement.  That’s why I was ready to defend him to the press on that fateful day in November, 2006.  I was dressed and ready to leave my house and hold a press conference when the news came from Ted, “Don’t defend me.”  I broke down and wept.  Even to this day, Ted has a special place in my heart and I often pray for his complete healing. 

But I’m conflicted because I’m also really ashamed.  I’m ashamed for the Church.  I’m hurting for the evangelical Church.  I’m saddened that the Church allows this kind of sin into her midst.  It’s not even this story, but the many spiritual earthquakes that keep rocking the Church.  Controversies of sin and rebellion within the Body of Christ abound.  The lack of accountability; the lack of holiness; the lack of true Biblical scrutiny is, quite frankly, discouraging.  It is sobering and frustrating.  As a pastor, I want to learn everything that can be learned from this event.

I find myself being led back to the scriptures, to the apocalyptic letter of John—the Revelation.  For solace and instruction from my Lord and Savior, I meditate upon Jesus’ words to the Laodicean church:

“Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’–and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked– I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.  Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”  Revelation 3:17-20

God’s view is so different from our own.  Here was a church that had everything—wealth and material blessing with no outward needs.  This was a “full” church; an obese church.  This must have been a church with a bottom line in the black.  Yet God saw things differently.  God said that the Laodicean church was “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.”  God saw poverty, when the Laodiceans saw wealth.  When the church of Laodicea looked in the mirror they saw a stylin’ wardrobe; when Jesus looked in, He saw nakedness. Jesus just doesn’t cooperate with our tastes in style.  

Jesus’ way of thinking is a seismic shift from our own.  Seeing as Jesus saw has never been easy.  Loving as Jesus loved has never been natural.  It was not easy in the first century, and it isn’t any easier today.  God doesn’t ask us for our opinion.  He tells us what He thinks and He invites us to join Him in His vision and plan.

God’s uncommon view is almost always the opposite of ours…in everything.  To see as Jesus saw is a paradigm shift from anything that comes from the world.  We look at things externally and God looks internally. We look at budgets and spread sheets; God looks at motives and content.  We hype and promote our agenda and God looks for humility and tenderness.

Imagine Jesus as a counselor.  In our passage Jesus gives us a glimpse into His heart for the Church, the “called out” ones. This is the Chief Counselor counseling His beloved people.  His words echo through the centuries and are as apropos today as they were then. 

First, Jesus says to us in verse 18, “I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.”  Jesus is not sending them to the streams of Pactolus, nor to the mines of Potosi, but He invites us to Himself, the pearl of great price.  He says that we must buy His gold.  It is the best gold, the refined stuff.  This is the stuff that has been through fire and come out gleaming and splendid.  Jesus is the refined One who went to Calvary, died, and rose again—He is the pure gold we all long for.

But how do we get it?  It is the gold that Isaiah cries out for, “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” (Isaiah 55:1)  The first seismic shift of Jesus’ counsel to His beloved followers is to “come to Me all who are weary and heavy laden.” Jesus wants His people to come to Him and buy of Him.  He is our gold; He is our garment.  He is our covering and our true riches.  Jesus wants to once again be Lord over His Church!

Secondly, Jesus gives further counsel in verse 19, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.”  Repentance means to turn around, a 180 degree seismic shift from our old ways, our natural ways, our forsaken ways.  Jesus wants our hearts to change with a new attitude and new lifestyle.  Repent from sin and be zealous for good works.  This is not about a belief sized up by platitudes and religious sounding creeds, but a real walk of love and compassion.  Jesus intercedes for a church zealous to do good works.  Jesus cries out to His people longing for hearts that are completely turned over to Him.  Jesus wants us to forgive and care for the broken, but be balanced with holiness and integrity.  He is on the move looking for leaders whose hearts are for Him.

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.”
(2 Chronicles 16:9a)

This is the heart of God for the Church and her leaders.  This is the people and the pastorate Jesus longs to comfort and empower!  This is my prayer for pastors—that we would set our hearts on being the most holy and loyal men of God possible.  This is the main prayer for my life.

Thirdly, Jesus knocks at the door of His Church, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20)  Imagine Jesus being outside of his Church.  Jesus has been shut out of much of His Church today and He’s hungry for fellowship with us again.  He wants to enter the sermons, worship times, and even the board meetings.  He is knocking on the door of the youth and children’s ministry, wanting to come in.

We were created by God to deeply know and intimately love Him.  God loves you and me and created us for relationship, for intimacy.  This is the purpose of the Church.  We are a people called by His name to have an intimate, growing, ever deepening friendship with God.  This is the heart of God and this is why He knocks.

So, my prayers are heartfelt today.  I love this city and I love Ted Haggard, and I love the Church.  We will weather these aftershocks, but let us learn from them too.  It is time for us to wake up and love; it is time for us to wake up and change.  Jesus is calling all of us to buy His gold, repent, and open the doors of our hearts to Him once again.  May this be our prayer.

Carpe Diem Gloriae Dei,
Steve Holt

Comments: 5 Comments

Transformational Knowing: Reflections on 2008

Posted December 29, 2008 by steveaholt
Categories: Mountain Springs Church
Tags: , , , , , , ,

The end of a year is a time of reflection for me.  Yesterday, I went out to my fire pit, my “fellowship of the ring” in the woods behind my house. I sat out by a blazing fire for a few hours just to pray, meditate, and read.  It was a good time.  I so enjoyed feeling the warm sun and the crackling fire against the cold westerly breezes.

I was quiet.  I thought about this past year and all of the losses and the victories I have experienced.  I have been in full-time ministry for over 28 years, and this year was the most difficult in memory.  It’s amazing what we remember about life when we really reflect.  For me at least, it’s not the programs, accomplishments, or “things” completed that are memorable.  No, it’s people, it’s relationships, it’s love that matters.  The losses this year in relationships have been hard to take. 

All relationships that end, whether positively or negatively, still feel exactly the same for me.  I feel loss.  I feel the distance.  I feel the pain of no longer having that particular person in my life.  One would think that the time spent in relationship would suffice the parting, but it never does.  The parting always leaves a hole—a gap, a missing character in the puzzle of our heart.  A friendship is a person that fills this place in our heart that no one else can fill.  It is uniquely their place and their contribution that makes them a friend.  When they are gone, they take with them a part of our heart.  They are irreplaceable.  Irreplaceable means that they had a place, a spot, a post in our hearts.  It is really hard to let them go.

And yet the new year presents new challenges and most importantly, new relationships.  The puzzles of our heart long for new friendships that will make our lives richer.  These relationships will not replace the old ones, nor do we expect them to, but they will bring a new vibrancy and love that is unique to their shared lives.  As they share their lives with us, we will share our lives with them.  For we must share, we must always give.

I think our lives are most vibrant and most healthy when we give our life away to God and His most valued creation—people.  God is love.  And because God is love, we can’t know God without knowing and loving people.  Friendships drive us to God and God drives us to people.  You can’t love, really love, without God.

Friendship transforms us.  You can’t be transformed without love and love is friendship.  This is why real change, real transformation at the heart level, can only happen in relationship.  Our nature cannot be transformed without friendship. 

We only really know God by love.  Love transforms us.  This is a “transformational knowing,” a knowing of God’s love through loving others.  God’s love changes us.  God’s love transforms our heart and mind.  David G. Brenner writes, “Transformational knowing of God comes from the intimate, personal knowing of Divine love.  Because God is love, God can only be known through love.  To know God is to love God, and to love God is to know God.” (The Gift of Being Yourself, IVP, p. 35)  We can’t know God without loving God and others.

Love is the message of 1 John.  This is what I’m calling a “revolutionary love.”  A revolution, according to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, means “a sudden, radical, or complete change…a fundamental change in the way of thinking about or visualizing something.”  John, the apostle of radical love is giving us an epistle of revolutionary love.  This is not a love that the world can understand.  No, this is a love that goes completely against, a 180, from the manner and ways of this world’s values.

John, in explaining this love to the saints, says it clearly, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8, NKJV)  In other words, our testimony of love for God is a love for one another.  Our testimony of knowing God is this crazy love.  This is our supreme witness to the world.  The world is watching for and longing to experience genuine love.  Only we who know the God who is love, can show the world this kind of love.  If we love, they see God.  If we don’t love, they don’t see God.

So loving God is our basis for friendships and friendships are our basis for loving God.  It is as we forge and commit ourselves to friendships of love that God transforms us.  This is hard.  This is not easy.  It is easier to be a loner.  We will be disappointed and hurt by people.  People, by their very nature of being living things, change.  Sometimes those changes mean distance, separation, and even betrayal.  We all wish that the close moments and intimate times could just be paused on our relational remote and held onto forever.  And they can—in the memories of our heart.  But they can’t in the reality of our busy lives.  Life moves on, and so must we.

So I want to cherish my friendship with God by cherishing my relationships with my friends.  Those relationships will change over time.  I will move on and so will many of my friends, but we do have One who is closer than a brother.  His love is constant.  His love is abiding.  His love will never leave or forsake us.  And that brings a sense of security and depth.

As we enter a new year, may the revolutionary love of Jesus transform your heart into loving your fellow man with a deeper love than you have known in the past.  Though we risk pain and even betrayal in friendships, don’t quit giving your heart to others.  For this is the transformational knowing, the knowing of people, that changes our hearts into knowing God’s heart.

Comments: 4 Comments

Cultivating An Attitude of Gratitude

Posted December 1, 2008 by steveaholt
Categories: Mountain Springs Church
Tags: , , , ,

To the Mountain Springs Church Family;

“Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning; Great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)

The prophet Jeremiah is speaking during a time of great depression and disaster in Jerusalem (586BC).  Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian army have besieged and destroyed the holy city and her people.  Indeed, the book of Lamentations opens with, “How lonely sits the city that was full of people!  How like a widow is she…the princess has become a slave!” (Lam. 1:1)  Jeremiah is an eyewitness to the dismantling and destruction of not only the beloved city but the Temple.  Nebuchadnezzar not only tore down the Temple brick by brick, he also took the great treasures of the inner sanctum back to Babylon.  (As a side note, it is believed that during this time the Ark of the Covenant was secretly hidden to avoid capture.  To this day, no one knows for sure what happened to the Ark.) 

So, Jeremiah is writing while everything that he loves, everything that he has preached about and cherishes is being systematically driven out of his life—his nation lies in defeat; the great Temple is in rubble; the Jews lie dying or captured to a foreign pagan power.  Jeremiah is writing in a time of ecclesiastical and national depression.

What does Jeremiah have left?  Nothing from a worldly viewpoint. Yet look at our passage above.  Look at how positive and joyful Jeremiah expresses himself! “His compassions fail not…Great is your faithfulness!”  Wow!  This is a man with a different kind of attitude.  Jeremiah, who was actually hated and imprisoned by the Jews themselves, and is now watching a pagan nation destroy all that he loves, finds deep within his spirit an attitude of gratitude.  Is this not amazing?  It is nothing less than supernatural.

An attitude of gratitude is only possible as we shake off the fears and doubts that so easily plague us.  Doubts and fears rob us of faith and peace.  Fear sabotages faith.  Fear is the polio of the soul.  Faith is the inoculation we need to change our attitudes.

Jeremiah made a choice in his heart when all of his circumstances and feelings railed against him.  Jeremiah chose a grateful spirit.  Jeremiah chose the faithfulness of God.  Jeremiah chose to cultivate an attitude of gratitude. 

When you read the book of Lamentations, one quickly realizes that the center of the book is our passage.  One commentator on Lamentations writes, “Great is His faithfulness,’ is the literary center of the book.”  It is also the spiritual center of Jeremiah’s faith!  Is the faithfulness and mercy of God the spiritual center of your life today?

How are you doing today?  Are you worried about your job? Concerned about your marriage? Doubting the presence of God?  Are you enveloped in fears that are overwhelming?  All of us go through uncertain and wavering times.  Nations, churches, and individuals will pass through times of great testing and trials.  Our church is passing through such times.  Our nation is passing through such trials.  Maybe you are passing through such difficulties.

Let me encourage you to choose joy.  Choose God’s faithfulness.  These are times of great testing and if we will make a choice to rejoice, the joy of the Lord will indeed by our strength and portion.  Speak out the blessing of God to those around you.  Let’s Sing with joy in our heart.  For great, really great, is His faithfulness!  Choose God’s way and discover fresh joy!
Pastor Steve

Comments: 3 Comments

My Post Election Prayer

Posted November 10, 2008 by steveaholt
Categories: Mountain Springs Church
Tags: , , , , , ,

A hearty congratulations to President elect Barak Obama.  His victory in the 2008 Presidential election last night is unprecedented in many ways.  This is a historic moment in American and world history.  Our nation’s first African American President is history making.  It is further proof that Americans may be moving beyond the old racial prejudices that have divided our country since its inception.  The post election surveys seem to show, at least initially, that Sen. Obama was able to draw votes from all strata of society.  His campaign and victory transcended race and socio economic divides in many ways.  So, on this first day after the election, we pause to ponder this historic moment.

The Bible is clear that God is the One who raises up leaders.  In the book of Daniel we read these words,

And He changes the times and the seasons;

He removes kings and raises up kings;

He gives wisdom to the wise

And knowledge to those who have understanding.

(Dan 2:21)

God, in His sovereign plan has chosen to raise up Sen. Obama to be our next president.  Our heart and prayers must be lifted up on His behalf.  We must pray for his safety and the safety of his family.  We are to pray for his administration.  We must seek the Lord and stand in the gap for his leadership team to have wisdom from God.

It is our profound responsibility to pray for our leaders.  Paul in writing to his disciple and pastor, Timothy, exhorted us, “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.” (1 Timothy 2:1)  As a reminder, Paul wrote these words even as the Roman Empire was persecuting Christians.  We might take note the reason why we pray. We pray that the legislation of the “king” and “all who are in authority” would provide a society where we would have the freedom to “lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.”  That is my prayer for Sen. Obama and his administration.

These are crisis times. These are times of great challenge.  These are times of great concern.  Vice President-elect Biden warned us that the world will test this young new president within “the first six months of his presidency…Mark my word on this.”  We should “mark” Joe Biden’s word.  We should pray that Joe Biden’s words are not heeded by certain nations of the world, who are hell bent on our destruction.  These are indeed times for great prayer.

We must pray for the safety for our nation.  Our country and Israel could be in great peril very soon.  From Middle East experts that I am in contact with, the Iranians are thrilled to have Sen. Obama elected.  There is a sense that they can now proceed unhindered with their nuclear program.  Many in Jerusalem are very concerned for their safety.  With the growing rhetoric of the Iranian leadership to “wipe Israel off the map,” the possibility of a nuclear armed Iran is very unsettling.  Despite what Obama has said, let us pray that the Obama Administration will have the wisdom needed to maintain peace through a strong stance with Iran.

The 16 month pull out of troops out of Iraq, promised by Obama, is widely anticipated by Middle Eastern observers to be welcome news to the Taliban and radical Islam groups.  The struggling Iraqi government and security force is unsettled today.  There is cause for great concern as they begin to see the full pull out of American troops.  Despite his rhetoric in the campaign, let us pray that God will provide insightful leadership to President Obama as it relates to the Iraqi situation.

Let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem.  Joel Rosenberg, author of the bestseller on the Middle East, Epicenter, writes,

A senior political strategist in Israel emailed me last night with this thought: “The State of Israel is now facing the most unfriendly American administration ever….Israels will to live will be tested in ways that will not be pretty. Many of Obama’s foreign policy team and Middle East advisors see Israel as the obstacle to peace. And we cannot count on Jewish supporters of Obama to have any standing in setting policy in this administration.” A new poll released yesterday also caught my attention: 46% of Israelis would have voted for McCain, while only 34% would have voted for Obama. That tells us something about the concern from Eilat to Haifa and from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem about losing a great friend of Israel and the Jewish people in President Bush to someone who has not indicated convincing support for Israel in the past.

Despite what he has said in the past about Israel, siding most often with the Palestinians, let us pray that the Obama Middle East team would understand the plight of Israel and give the Jewish nation the continued freedom to defend and guard their nation against foreign intrusion.

I came in early this morning and sought the Lord in prayer in our sanctuary.  I cried out to God for His protection and loving care over our nation, the Church, and the world crisis we are facing.  God spoke loudly and clearly to me from Ps. 145:17-21,

Ps 145:17-21

17 The LORD is righteous in all His ways,

Gracious in all His works.

18 The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,

To all who call upon Him in truth.

19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;

He also will hear their cry and save them.

20 The LORD preserves all who love Him,

But all the wicked He will destroy.

21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD,

And all flesh shall bless His holy name

Forever and ever.

We have before us a new opportunity disguised as a challenge and the people of God must pray and seek the Lord in a deeper way.  Let us pray for our new leadership—pray for wisdom, discernment, and direction.  Let us pray for our new President elect to hear God’s voice and understand clearly the direction we as a nation should take. The promise in our passage is that the Lord “will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them.” (vs. 19)  I believe that this is a promise we should cling to. 

I am reminded of the letter from Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, to Thomas Jefferson, in 1790, “These are hard times in which a genius would wish to live.  Great necessities call forth great leaders.”  These are times of great necessities.  Remember, we are first Christians and then we are Americans.  We are first Americans and then we are Republicans or Democrats. Be assured, God hears our prayers.  Be assured that Jesus is as much on the Throne on November 5th as He was on November 3rd.  Let us pray.

Comments: 4 Comments

Gymnastics and the Kingdom of God Part 3

Posted October 10, 2008 by steveaholt
Categories: Mountain Springs Church
Tags: , , , ,

From the 9th grade until my senior year in high school, I lived, ate, drank, and dreamed gymnastics.  I was as crazy as my coach.  He was a fanatic about perfection in every routine that we worked so tirelessly to execute.  His disease for perfection and winning rubbed off on me.  Gymnastics was all that I thought about during the day and it was my last fleeting thought at night.  I imagined and dreamed gymnastics glory.  I could see in my mind the perfect catch and release on high bar, the flawless dismount off of rings, and the smoothly timed execution of a highly difficult trick in a floor exercise routine.  But such visions of perfection were not to remain just in my head.  They had to be worked out in my experience.  It took daily training.

Each day after class was a discipline of rigorous mental and physical training.  The constant pressures to improve were pressed into every movement and decision at practice.  The physical pain of breaking down the body to exert greater strength and flexibility was matched only by the mental anxiety of cerebral self control in learning a new “trick” (a gymnastics term used for the particular maneuver on an apparatus).  I came home at night with both my body aching and my mind exhausted from the day’s work out.

I can so vividly recall jumping up to grab the rings to perform yet another attempt at a difficult trick.  I had failed on every attempt.  I had fallen off the rings several times, coming close to major injury twice.  And as I jumped to grasp hold of the rings yet another time, I felt a warm tingling sensation on my arms—from my hands to my elbows, streams of blood were rolling down like rivers across my arms.  The blood flowed freely from the calluses in my hands that were  torn and ripped.  It was a vivid reminder of the price to be paid for gold.

Yet the end product was a flawless routine.  The pain paid off.  The blood wiped off, and the victories came.  The price was worth the admission to perfection. 

The roar of the crowd would dissipate.  But the sense of self accomplishment was a deep confidence and satisfaction that all the work, practice, and struggle had been worth it.  This goal being temperal; it prepared me to understand the uniqueness of seeking God for an eternal goal.

The Apostle Paul, in talking about his zeal for an eternal crown, said it this way,  “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.  And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.  Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air.  But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)  Paul is comparing the runner to the Christian.  His challenge to the Corinthians is that every runner, who really runs, runs for victory.  And every runner who cares about winning, must discipline his body with training in order to get the advantage.  And so it is for the follower of Christ.  We “fight” he says in order to win!

Fighting to win?  That’s what Paul says.  We must fight, we must run with a holy pursuit that brings our life into subjection to a higher good, a higher passion.  The Christ follower is a passionate fighter for the imperishable gold—the victory that is awarded by Christ at the culmination of a life well lived.

Like the runner who runs daily to prepare his legs and heart for the coming competition.  Like myself, with blood running down my arms, the Jesus disciple must learn to be “temperate in all things” and train in such a way that he or she may attain the glory of God.   

We are disciples!  Fighting disciples.  A disciple by his or her very character is a disciplined follower.  As disciples of Christ, we are passionate seekers and finders of the kingdom of God.  We have found the kingdom through giving our heart to Jesus.  Simultaneously, we are lifelong seekers of Jesus that never completely arrive in our full knowledge of His marvelous, unending, and ever exploding wisdom and love!  As we choose to seek God, discipline is involved.

As a gymnast I had to leave behind certain activities to obtain a higher goal.  I had to give up, quit, and not even look at certain things—foods, drugs, and drink—because I needed my body to be in the best condition possible.  It was the only route to the winners stand.  As a disciplined seeker of God, I have to temper my appetites, my activities, and my passions for the higher calling.  And it is a constant fight, yes a real fight.

Today, I’m in a hotel room taking a day to fast and pray and seek the Lord.  I do this every month; I steal myself away from work, family, and the constant busyness of my life.  I pull away and pray.  I get real quiet and listen.  I read God’s Word for hours.  I put the activity and “go” of my life on “pause”.  Yet, I push “play” in going after God!  But I can’t push “play” on one track, if I don’t push “pause” on another.  Discipline is like that.  To go for God, we have to say no to other stuff.  I am talking about “go” and “no.”  There are certain things in our lives that just can’t go unless we choose no.

Look at your life today.  What are those activities, choices, attitudes, and even relationships that are hindering your becoming a passionate disciple of Jesus and His kingdom?  Are their lower feelings blocking the higher passions?  Are there relationships hindering The relationship?  All of us who really want to know Christ must ask these question continually.  We all tend to drift off the mark.  We all tend to shift our focus and miss God’s deeper work in our hearts.

So, let me challenge you to “no” and “go.”  Say no to three things today that are hindering your zealous pursuit of God and His kingdom!  Don’t hesitate.  Don’t second guess.  Jump up on the rings of your life and train yourself for the higher joy, the deeper love, and the greater cause.  There is a gold awaiting you—yes, it is the gold that Jesus will present to you personally.  That’s a victory worth living for.  Say no and then go!

Comments: 2 Comments

Inklings on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Interview of Me

Posted September 9, 2008 by steveaholt
Categories: Mountain Springs Church
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Several weeks ago I was interviewed by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for a national TV special on the upcoming presidential election in America.  The program centered around the shifting trends among the religious right away from just voting a one party ticket, especially as it related to the upcoming presidential election.  I was specifically asked questions related to the religious faith of Barack Obama and John McCain and how this might impact the upcoming presidential election.  I answered as truthfully as I could at the time.  Though the interview took over three hours, only a few minutes were used for the broadcast. 

I have just viewed the telecast that aired a few days ago in Australia.  After reviewing the program, I felt it necessary to prepare a few of my inklings and thoughts to more fully share my position as it relates to faith and politics.

Though I still do not know about John McCain’s faith, which I clearly stated in the interview, be assured that I do know about his political convictions, which was not the question.  In 30 years of voting, I have never voted in an election based largely on a candidates personal faith in God.  I vote to elect a politician who holds my viewpoints on political issues.  Romans 13 is very clear that God raises up “ministers” (mentioned 3 times) in the civil/political realm as much as He raises up ministers in the spiritual realm.  In the Romans 13 passage, the Greek word, diakonos is used, which can be translated “minister.”  But what is interesting is that Paul never indicates that this civil minister has any need for personal faith in God, but rather that God has personally placed him in that position for God’s purposes.  Indeed when Paul was writing, Nero, one of the most deranged emperors of all time, was in power in Rome.  So personal faith in God is not nearly as important to me as whether the candidate will legislate, vote, and work for laws that uphold my convictions.  As Martin Luther, the father of the reformation, once said, “I would rather vote for a good pagan than a bad Christian.”

As a minister in the spiritual realm, I look for “ministers” in the political realm who will uphold, vote for, and legislate what I believe, in my understanding of the Bible and my worship of God, to be the most consistent with the Holy Scriptures. I believe that the stark difference between the candidates (Obama and McCain) on such issues as the right to life for the unborn and marriage, which are clearly spelled out in the Scriptures, makes the decision for president a very easy one.  The contrasts could not be more stark nor more clear.

So, the issue before every thoughtful follower of Christ in America is not what John McCain or Barak Obama personally believes about God, that is his personal faith question between him and God, but rather, how will John McCain or Barak Obama, lead our country through the laws and ordinances that his administration will promote.  The Bible is certainly not clear on many political issues, and thus each believer must seek the Lord and develop his or her own political convictions, but, and I do mean but—the Bible is very clear on some issues.  Namely that life begins at conception (Ps 139; Jeremiah 1, etc.) and that marriage is exclusively between a man and a woman (Genesis 2:24 and Ephesians 5:22-33, etc.).  The two candidates stand as polar opposites on legislation on just these two issues alone.  So, as an addendum to the ABC program, let me be very clear that though I don’t consider the personal faith of a candidate as primary  in my decision of how to vote, my personal faith in what the Bible teaches does play a vital part in how I would vote for a candidate.

I hope this is helpful in relation to those who have seen the program and have further questions related to my personal convictions as they relate to religion and politics in our upcoming election. 

Pastor Steve Holt

Comments: 1 Comment

« Previous Entries
Next Page »