Last night, I saw a documentary on the natural world which was scripted and produced from a Christian worldview, and it made all the difference in the world (literally). While the revelation of God is so much more complete in his written word, it is simply astounding to know that God is the creator and then to be able to appreciate the perfection of design at every level of the universe. From the polygonal shape of a virus molecule to the intricate mechanism of a grasshopper's jump to immense concepts of chemistry and radiation in our solar system... all of it works together in perfect harmony, from the most vast to the most microscopic. Not only is there a designer behind this universe, but he is really good at what he does.

Our brother Matt Robison also wrote a tremendous article on this subject yesterday (from which some of the above paragraph was drawn). I recommend it wholeheartedly, as it brings some solid Biblical perspective on the universe up against the deliberately godless philosophy of our day.

I hope you enjoy the read, and more than that, I hope that you can look around at the created world today and be awed by the God who "upholds the universe by the word of his power." (Heb. 1:3)

In the midst of his grander point in one of Sunday's lessons, I found a great deal of wisdom in one of brother Tack's short asides. Here's a quick reminder of his point and then a reflection on it from me:

To deviate to the right side of the path of faithfulness to God is to wander into legalism; the belief that you must be good enough to redeem yourself from sin and its consequences. And to deviate to the left side of the path of faithfulness to God is to wander into libertine religion; the belief that God's grace will freely cover even the sins we commit willingly—that we should continue in sin so that grace may abound.

Of course, neither of these is the God-given, Biblical path to redemption, and the reason they both fall short is a fundamental truth that both of them misunderstand in the same way.

What do both liberalism and legalism have in common? They both underestimate the horror of sin. Legalism purports that sin's contaminating power is small enough that I have the power to overcome it on my own. Liberalism imagines that sin is not really all that bad in the first place, so its consequences toward us are negligible. Both misunderstand the compulsory life-debt incurred by sin and imagine that it is something small.

Which leads to the other problem with both deviations from Biblical truth: by downplaying the gravity of sin, both erroneous philosophies trivialize the grace of God. It's either not necessary at all (the legalist), or it is just a cheap band-aid for a petty problem (the libertine). Neither is the case when we look at what the apostle Paul says about the grace of God.

"...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith." (Rom. 3:23-25)

- Dan Lankford, minister

Our friend and brother Edwin Crozier preached a sermon recently on life-changing bible study, and I believe the ideas will be helpful to all of us in our efforts in our 2018 emphasis on the spiritual disciplines and especially in our daily Bible reading through the psalms this year.

He pointed his hearers to 2 Timothy 3:16-17, which says, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." From the profitable aspects of Scripture mentioned, here are four simple guidelines for studying the Bible in a way that will change our lives for the better.

• Scripture is profitable for teaching. So when you read the Bible, ask and answer the question, "What do I learn from what I've read?"
• Scripture is profitable for reproof. So when you read the Bible, ask and answer the question, "Where does what I've read show me that I fall short?"
• Scripture is profitable for correction. So when you read the Bible, ask and answer the question, "What do I need to change because of what I've read?"
• Scripture is profitable for training in righteousness. So when you read the Bible, ask and answer the question, "What habits will I develop because of what I've read?"

They're not complicated at all, and they were hidden in plain sight in 2 Timothy 3. And perhaps those are the two greatest things about this little method: 1) That it is beautifully simple. 2) That it is already a demonstration of the very thing it aims to teach: life-changing Bible study.

- Dan Lankford, minister (with gratitude to my friend, Edwin Crozier)

While we need to resist the temptation to be smug on these occasions, it can be good fun for believers to see our secular-minded world realize the value of Biblical truth. Such is the case with the recent story from the Perspective section of the Washington Post bearing this title: Divorcing sex from love hasn’t made sex more fun, more safe or less complicated.

The article explains that while so-called "science" (often a code-word for the philosophy of naturalism) has told us that sex is nothing more than a biological process and should therefore be unfettered, behaving like that has proved incredibly disappointing for men and women. The risks of continually changing sex partners, in the writer's words, has "turned sex into just another social interaction and emptied it of any supposedly sacred or taboo elements." The result is sex that lacks any emotional fulfillment at all, which inevitably leads to a decline in the physical pleasure it brings. The article cites a 2012 study which found that "78 percent of women and 72 percent of men who had 'uncommitted sex' reported a history of feeling regret after the encounter." Because God has designed sex as an activity fully engaging the soul, the mind, and the body (see 1 Cor. 6:12-20); it makes perfect sense that if we fail to respect it one of those areas, it will lose its glory in the other areas.

The most fascinating (and most tragic) aspect of the article is that while it acknowledges the failures of much modern ideology, it doesn't even come close to proposing monogamous, faithful marriage as the solution to these massive problems. The best it offers is this assessment: "those with freer, more casual sexual lives can miss out on something: the joy of intimacy with someone who knows them deeply and well." So let's go ahead and remember the full solution to the problem: "Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous."  (Heb. 13:4)

- Dan Lankford, minister

All things are possible to him who believes; still more to him who hopes; still more to him who loves; and most of all to him who practices all three. All  of us who believe as we should and are baptized have taken the first step toward perfection. We will attain perfection if we practice the following principles of Christian conduct.

First of all, we need to be considerate of God in everything we do and say. Our goal should be to become perfect in our adoration of Him throughout this earthly life in preparation for all eternity. We must make a firm resolution to overcome, with God's grace, all the difficulties encountered in a spiritual life.

From the outset of our Christian walk, we should remember who we are and that we are unworthy of the name of Christian, except for what Christ has done for us. In cleansing us from all our impurities, God desires to humble us and often allows us to go through a number of trials or difficulties to that end.

We must believe with certainty that it is both pleasing to God and good for us to sacrifice ourselves for Him. Without this complete submission of our hearts and minds to His will, He cannot work in us to make us perfect.

The more we aspire to be perfect, the more dependent we are on the grace of God. We begin to need His help with every little thing and at every moment, becasue without it we can do nothing. The world, the flesh, and the devil wage a fierce and continuous war on our souls. If we weren't capable of humbly depending on God for assistance, our souls would be dragged down. Although this total dependence may sometimes go against our human nature, God takes great pleasure in it. Learning to do so will bring us rest.

- from The Practice Of The Presence Of God, by Brother Lawrence (c. 1614-1691 AD)

The track continues repeat: a successful male public figure is publicly accused of sexual misconduct by a woman whom he encountered in years past, he is fired, he is publicly shamed by various media outlets, and his entertainment or political career is immediately declared dead. (Comedian Aziz Ansari is this week’s iteration of all this.) Then that’s it. And we move on to wait for the next spin of the same cycle.

But has anybody noticed the gaping hole in that narrative? Why is no one talking about the truth?

As a society, we should all be screaming for the truth in all these cases. Which party is telling it? And what IS the truth in each of these instances of accusation?

Instead, humanists and many believers cry in chorus: “Witch! Burn her!” (Or, in these cases, him.) This is, of course, not the first time this sort of thing has happened in our nation's history (note just the first line of this article). Which—far from being an excuse for the current behavior—makes the current matters far more shameful because we have not learned our own fatal pattern. Thankfully, these men haven’t suffered the violence done in a literal witch hunt, but the story continues with almost no mention by anyone of the need to investigate or validate what’s been purported.

I’m not saying any of this to defend either side of the story. My suspicion is that investigations and genuine pursuit of the truth would show the women’s accusations were well founded in the vast majority of these cases. But the reality is that no one party should be able to wield the power of accusation, judgment, and sentencing without thorough attempts to ascertain evidence and a reasonable verdict.

The Lord’s kingdom rule includes a demand for investigation of THE TRUTH in any criminal prosecution. The Law of Moses commanded, "Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established" (Deut. 19:15—pay special notice to the whole context). And the wise man says, “If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame" (Proverbs 18:13). We should all—especially Christians—be calmly and yet adamantly demanding that the truth be known, regardless of who it favors and who it convicts. We can’t be so fickle as to just parrot the mob’s demands.

And let me offer a humble yet serious word of warning to my fellow ministers who may read this: don’t choose a side to validate or invalidate unless you are certain you know the truth. Until then, continue to preach everything the Bible says. Firmly remind everyone of the biblical truth that men must respect women. AND preach the biblical injunctions against bearing false witness. AND preach the biblical wisdom of getting the full story in any conflict situation. AND preach the Biblical realities of repentance, mercy, forgiveness, and renewal.

This song wasn’t a pleasant one in the first place; let’s be sure we really know what we’re doing before we let the track repeat again.

- Dan Lankford, minister

Churches of all types experience a spike in attendance around the beginning of the year. It seems that many people who have even a generic awareness of the need to make some life improvement naturally associate attendance at religious assemblies with that. And far from being something to ridicule, this is something that all believers should be glad about.

The lasting good of faithfully assembling is demonstrated throughout all of the Bible. God's people were given several times when they would attend the house of God for worship as family units and as a whole congregation. During the time between the testaments, the Jews began weekly assemblies in synagogues—something which Jesus himself made a habit of attending. And after the gift of the Holy Spirit was bestowed on the believers in Acts 2, we frequently see them regularly assembling in the book of Acts and in the letters of those brethren.

All of that points us to the fact that church attendance is always a good idea. I feel that there is an inherent risk that a preacher will sound self-serving when he brings up the necessity of faithful church attendance, but it’s a risk I’ll take for the sake of presenting the truth. Because the truth is that while it is not the sum total of faithfulness to God, worshiping him with a group of his people is one of the defining elements of faithful living.

So I encourage you to constantly make a renewed determination that you will be present and engaged whenever the people of God are gathered. As our website tells to all our potential guests, the services "may not always make you feel better (though they will often do that), but it will always challenge you to be better!"

In a sermon two Sundays back, we made note of the example of Jesus as he spoke to the woman at the well (John 4), and we made a point that in doing evangelism, we will often have to talk about real life. We will have to talk to people about all the facets of their lives where the gospel will have an impact, and that gets personal. But perhaps a warning is in order against one of the potential pitfalls in doing that.

In balancing the idea of helping people surrender the most intimate parts of their lives to Jesus, the Bible warns us not to be nosy. Our commission to talk about real life should not be seen as a license to be gossips and busybodies. The apostle Paul writes a few warnings about these things:

"But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ...Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not." (1 Tim. 5:11-13)
"...we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living." (2 Thess. 3:11-12)
"I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder." (2 Cor. 12:20)

Often, this is an area of life of which we are unaware of our own behavior. Make some time to think carefully about your life, to pray that God will show you where you are weak and where you can grow better in this area. These warnings must be taken seriously. They will help us keep a proper perspective on evangelism and guiding folks thru the turmoils of real life without indulging in mindless gossip.

Over the past ten days, the news has revealed allegations of sexual misconduct against TV stars, stand-up comedians, Hollywood producers, and politicians. One of my friends recently suggested redesignating Twitter to "Where To Find Out Who Is Being Accused Of Sexual Misconduct Today" because it's all that people are talking about on there. It's a mess. So here are a couple of randomly-ordered reminders about how the Christian worldview makes sense of all of it:

First, we should be reminded not to be too hasty in believing either the initial accusations or the initial denials in these situations. Solomon said, "The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him" (Prov. 18:17). We should exercise patience and wisdom to wait until the truth is known. Hasty judgments on matters which simply cannot be accurately known does not reveal godly wisdom.

Secondly, if a believer is accused of gross immorality while he is innocent, he should say that he is innocent. There is a difference between Jesus' being accused of blasphemy because of the controversial words which he spoke and a man being accused of gross sexually immoral behavior. Sometimes, the world will see behavior that is characteristically Christian and demand that it is wrong—in that case, we will choose to be silent as a lamb led to slaughter. "...if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God" (1 Pet. 2:20). But if the world accuses a Christian of genuine sin which he has not committed, no Christian should resign himself to the world thinking that he is a flagrant hypocrite. If a believer is accused of a crime of this nature, and if he is truly innocent, he should take Job's behavior toward his friends as an example and maintain that innocence (cf. Job 31:1-40).

Third, remember that your choices MATTER. All of them. All the time. Whether or not you can fathom a way that a moment of impurity might come back to haunt you, make the right choice. Deuteronomy 30 is from the old covenant, but that does not, in any way, diminish the bearing of truth stated there: "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days..." (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)  Maintain your integrity. Refuse to compromise the principles of holiness which ought to govern our hearts and our actions. And while you may yet suffer for doing good, you can be assured that you will not garner unnecessary suffering down the road as a consequence of your own immorality.

- Dan Lankford, minister

This week's major news headline is the violence and hatred perpetrated by many in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend. It is disturbing to all truly spiritual people to see so much ill will demonstrated in such flagrant fashions. Here are a few thoughts from the word of God that will help us all to keep a clear vision of what has happened.

"The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell... It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so." (from Jas. 3:6-12)

"There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers."  (Prov. 6:16-19)

"Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise." (Gal. 23-29)

“You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also... You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:38-39, 43-45)