Sam Blog

October 13, 2008

Nowhere do we see the level of confusion and dispute more than in the church's differing approach to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was sent by God to comfort the church and lead it into all truth. But many have arrived at a notion of the Holy Spirit that does not take into account a serious exegesis of the relevant passages. In our most recent update, we summarize the Person and work of the Holy Spirit. We hope to eventually add to this brief summary, but for now we provide a summation of this biblical teaching. Many have entertained views about the Holy Spirit different from what Bibletruth presents. We wish them no ill and even extend a warm hand of fellowship. But this is not a trifling matter, and any serious departure from the biblical teaching about the Person and work of the Holy Spirit can only lead to mischief. Today much confusion abounds and we need to steady the boat, as it were, with a return to theological faithfulness on this matter. We do acknowledge that some serious students of Scripture have arrived at different views, and for that we do not fault them. Nevertheless we find their conclusions wide of the mark. What do you think?

Ouch, while adding to this page I just learned my beloved Dodgers fell in game 4 to the Phillies.

August 10, 2008

Prophecy Update! The very words ring familiar to Christians who read magazines, listen to Christian radio, or who watch Christian television. I feel constrained to register a humble opinion on this matter, so readers will pardon my bluntness: The biblical writers provided no clues to identify the nearness of Christ's return other than perhaps an increase in the general signs that characterize the entire age of grace. Furthermore, speculation by Christian "teachers" on prophetic themes contributes to an already growing carnality in the church.

To add insult to injury, many of these teachers do their students and congregants no good when they encourage such prophetic curiosity. Therefore it's important to set forth some basic biblical reminders :

  • We know neither the day nor hour (Matt. 24:36), or the times or seasons (1 Thess. 5:1) of our Lord's return.
  • No events of current or recent origin can possibly lead us to believe we are drawing near to the Lord's return.
  • With Christian marriages falling apart at record pace and compromise worming its way into the church, preachers need to bring their hearers back to the great themes of Scripture (1 Tim. 4:13; 2 Tim. 4:1-5).
  • We need to stick close to the biblical storyline of biblical redemption, and not stray off course. Teachers have no right to emphasize themes that do not fit into the general course of Scripture.
  • While our present and abiding hope is to see Christ at His coming, the overwhelming majority of believers will meet Him through death. They need to be prepared for that day.
  • Overemphasizing prophecy even to the point of suggesting correlations between prophetic events or people and current events and people hastens our own credibility gap, much to the laughter of pagan onlookers we are trying to win to Christ.
  • The repeated failures of "date setters" leads to a general listlessness among Bible students to appreciate true prophetic themes, such as Christ's return and individual judgment, which lead us to purity (1 John 3:3).

I suppose I could go on and one, and excitable believers will not necessarily appreciate this stroke of blog, but let's examine the Scriptures to see whether these things are so.

My new IPod!Today my children and spouses joined Peggy (my beautiful wife of nearly 30 years) and me for a birthday celebration. Words cannot express how blessed I felt. (Not by the IPod nano they gave me, even though I was totally jazzed over that gift.) Just to have them all together for a brief time on a Sunday afternoon can be compared to few other gifts. My how the time has flown! I pray for blessings on their lives, and for my future grandchildren. Pray for me! I'll need help figuring out how to use the IPod. . .

April 5, 2008

Today I finally uploaded the Bibletruth redesign that I've worked on for about 4 months. The site was hand coded in valid CSS and XHTML (not that many of you would care). The pages will load quicker and better comply with future browsers. Look for some informative updates in the near future, and I will try to mention these updates on the home page. Please get the word out on Bibletruth. Forward a link or send an e-mail to a friend or acquaintance. We have been quite encouraged by the traffic as of late, and some communications. Needless to say, not all who browse this site agree with its premise or even claim to be believers. But we welcome them and their input.

December 30, 2007

As we approach the new year, let's take a look back at some exciting events in the world. . . . Wow, a banal experience. Why? Because the Bible pre-defines what we may expect (see 1 John 2:15-17). Not much new under the sun. But what happened in your life? Have you grown in your knowledge of God, or back peddled a bit? Time to set it right. I've noticed a definite trend: Those who prayerfully study doctrinal truths and live a spiritually structured life experience more victory than do those who depend on stirring public experiences and community, the operative word of the nineties (and perhaps the subject of a future blog). Make no mistake, we need to conduct our Christian lives among other believers, and if we fail to do so we cannot grow (Eph. 4:15-16). I've never yet met a good Christian who opted out of church. But many lean on community in an unhealthy way. When they are all alone, they drop their Christian witness and forsake their spiritual disciplines. Jesus cautioned His disciples against relying on anyone or anything apart from him (John 15). We own our eternal salvation to Him and cannot expect to live victoriously without Him at the center. To live is Christ, and to die is gain (Phil. 1:21). Have a great new year, and don't forget to count your blessings.

November 6, 2007

For years I have heard critiques of theological seminaries, "they're not relevant," or "they don't prepare pastors for what's out there." In part, I think, these observations are true. But the ministry certainly has changed over the years. Does this mean we need less theological training, and more "practical" classes? I think not. You weren't expecting that, were you? Pastors still need basic training in languages, historic and systematic theology, and other biblical disciplines. That they can get from seminary. The seminaries, for their part, must not suppose they can equip pastors for today's ministries. They cannot. But they do provide a service by laying the biblical foundation for ministry. Beyond that the pastor needs supplemental resourcing, perhaps from conferences, books, and good networking. Perhaps it's best to quit kidding ourselves and admit our limitations. Once upon a time when churches were brimming with biblically literate lay people who were groomed on biblical truth, they requested, even demanded a pastor whose sole purpose was to "feed the flock." Now the churches themselves want to grow up to be mega-churches (another blog, yet future), and expect their pastors to lead the way forward. Solution? Who's to say. But we need pastors who can handle the Word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15). Go to seminary, young man. Churches err who think they can staff their ranks with astute champions from the business world. A pastor is a pastor is a pastor. We need them. But pastors will be left behind who fail to obtain other skills along the way. Have a happy Thanksgiving! Keep Christ the focus.

September 4, 2007

We just updated the home page with a review of the Reformation Study Bible, a study Bible John Piper recently endorsed by saying, ". . . I know of no study Bible that comes closer to the truth than this one." I sincerely hope you pick up a copy (we found it in a Christian book store, but you could order it from it from Amazon or other online outlets). We also provide a link to the page "Why God allows evil."

Senator Larry CraigA couple of years ago, my wife and I had the opportunity of meeting Senator Larry Craig of Idaho. He seemed like a friendly, intelligent man who served the people of Idaho well. Whether or not he did the things he's accused of, his case again reminds us of the fallen human condition. We have also recently witnessed some Christian leaders falling into homosexual sin, and losing their ministries as a result. Once again the Word of God proves to be a light to our path in a very dark world. Let us all pray for enabling grace to fulfill God's purpose for our lives, and to live as lights in a dark place (Phil. 2:15).

July 28, 2007: Summer Almost Over?

Yesterday my wife, Peggy, and I were in the car when she made a statement I've hated from youth: "Summer is almost over." Wow! Really, that's just what I wanted to hear! Not. I suppose my aversion to that statement stems from school days when gleeful parents would remind us it's almost time to go back to school. Then I would flip through magazines and see "back to school sales," just when I was getting in the grove of summer. As much as we recoil when reminded of summer's end, we could put it to positive use.

The Bible also reminds us that summer will one day be over: "Harvest is past, summer is ended, and we are not saved" (Jer. 8:20 NASB). The image was probably taken from harvesters who failed to bring in the crops at summer's end, and then applied by Jeremiah to the erring Israelites who squandered their opportunity to obey God. Now that opportunity was all but gone.

God has blessed us with time and opportunity, but not in measureless or predictable quantities. Should the Lord not return in our lifetimes, we have only the time He allots us to worship, serve, and obey Him. In a real sense, our summers are almost over. Join me in this prayer of Moses: "So teach us to number our days, that we may present to you a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12 NASB).

Independence Day, 2007

Since shortly after my conversion, I have not been able to stop reading, whereas before I had a well-nourished aversion to formal learning of any kind. No one can say for sure why he or she holds an interest in one subject over another, other than God led them in this direction. My love has always been theological truth. This site exists so that people will apply the Bible to all of life, which is really a condensed definition of systematic theology. I have re-launched Bibletruth for this reason: to provide resources for people who love the truth and seek to live it out. Bibletruth provides summaries of the chief doctrines of the Word of God, though we reserve the right to jump on hot current topics of a theological nature. For the most part, we will confine these efforts to the home page. Happy reading, feel free to contact me.