Persecution Update

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A Word About the Blogroll

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A few weeks ago, I accidentally lost the blogroll here at Slice. I have slowly been rebuilding it but could not remember all that I had linked to. If your blog was removed, be assured it was not a deliberate act and let me know. Thanks.

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Churches Respond to Weak Economy By Closing Doors

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This one just landed in my email. Churches are responding to the looming economic crisis by shutting their doors and doing social services activities. Considering that a lot of churches no longer have the good news of the Gospel to share with a suffering world, it’s probably just as well.

I listened recently to some sermons from the early 1930’s from the old Lutheran Hour broadcast. They were recorded in the midst of the Great Depression. Frequent references were made to those who were hurting and hungry, but the hope that was perpetually held up to listeners of that program that aired every Sunday was the Gospel itself. Never once did that message waver. The suffering was so vast all across America, yet that minister of the Gospel, Walter A. Maier, knew that what he could give as a minister was the most important thing of all—the eternal hope of Jesus.

There is nothing wrong with churches providing physical help to those in need, but it should always be accompanied with a clear Gospel message. In the era of Rick Warren-style Interfaith works projects, this is sadly not the case.

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You Know It’s Bad When…

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I don’t normally offer comment on financial news stories, but this one provided a little comic relief. You know we’re in recession (depression?) when Americans can’t afford plastic surgery. Botox injections are  having to suffice. America’s national Dorian Gray Syndrome is meeting economic reality. Things are truly bad when you’re resorting to Scotch taping your face at night to prevent wrinkles. (Duct tape is not recommended.)

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Patricia King Ministry Reaches Out to the Dead

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Thanks to CRN for pointing out this post at Slaughter of the Sheep blog. Melissa Fisher of Patricia King’s Extreme Prophetic Ministry, along with her colleagues, are now descending on mortuaries with an outreach to the dead. Yes, you read that correctly. So far, there haven’t been any takers.

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Prudential Insurance Requires Employees to Study Buddhism

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Just imagine if Prudential was requiring Bible reading at their company retreats. Employees would have screamed the house down. But Buddhism? That’s cool. That’s different. A former Prudential employee is suing because he was forced to learn Buddhist teachings while at a company retreat and then fired when he refused. Here’s the story from Worldnetdaily.

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What is Your Pastor Serving Up?

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ExtremeTheology.com has posted some thought provoking church promotion card ideas that are very unlike the “40 Days of Sex!”, Desperate Housewives and Super Hero sermon campaign promotions preferred by seeker churches looking for numbers. Read about them here.

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"My Law School Asks Inmates What They Want to be Taught and Teaches That."

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My law school asks inmates in prisons about what they want taught, and that’s what they teach. One of my classes, criminal law, was very helpful and informative before they dropped it after asking several inmates what they thought about the subject material. It turns out that there were a few of them who had been convicted of crimes, so they didn’t really like the idea that what they had been justly accused and convicted of was being taught to others. The administration listened to their complaints, realized that it would offend the inmates to keep teaching on criminal law, and dropped it from the curriculum. Well, I guess that’s great for the inmates, but what about me? What about people who’ve been the victims of criminal behavior and needs people to defend them from error? I really needed to know what that subject material was if I was ever going to be an effective lawyer and/or judge, but obviously the inmates complained so it’s gone. The school felt that those unconcerned about the law were the most important ones; not my classmates and I at the law school. I just hope no one needs me to know what exactly criminal law is in case they ever get in a situation where a criminal act has been committed on them. Oh, well.

The situation above is a hypothetical situation. My great law school, Trinity Law, did no such thing and will never, but if they did, what would be your advice? “Get out of there, Lane! That isn’t a law school, it’s aiding criminals! That’s a dangerous place to be, and they’re lying to you!” I wholeheartedly agree with the advice. If this is what my law school did, I would be making every effort to get as far away from that “law school” as quickly as possible. Would you not agree that that should be my course of action? If I was at a law school that was letting convicted inmates decide what is taught and what isn’t, would you not agree that I should take every precaution I could possibly take to get out of there and not let the administration manipulate me into staying whether it be by feelings of guilt, false claims, etc.? Would you even hold that a law school that flatly refused to teach law was even a law school?

I submit to you that the “seeker-sensitive” movement is not one iota different to the law school example above when used in metaphor. Here we have a movement where there are Christians who seriously want to know what the truth is about a particular subject. They desire to be fed what is true not only for themselves, but also to help others. They go to the leadership to tell them that they don’t believe the teaching is deep enough and that things are too trivial. The leadership retorts with the assertion that they are not going to teach on certain things because they’ve asked the unbelievers what they want taught, and, since preaching the very things that unbelievers are already convicted and sentenced of (John 3:18) would make the unbeliever offended, the leadership dismisses the claims of the real truth seeker and settles to cater to the “seeker” even to the extent of calling the Christian who desires to go deeper a troublemaker.

Considering what your advice would have been to me in the first hypothetical, what advice would you give to the people who are being manipulated by a crooked “administration” in these “seeker churches”? Would it be the same? If not, why? You need a better argument than, “Well, it’s two different situations.” The facts hold that they’re almost identical aside from the details of each. I heard not too long ago that arguing points proficiently used to be regarded as a sign of virtue in a person. I disagree. Arguing points proficiently is still regarded as a sign of virtue in a person, it’s just that all the narcissistic people who are running these inmate shows don’t agree. Oh, well. I’m not led by these “leaders” by anything else, why should I start taking their advice and heeding their opinion on this? Perhaps if they could get over themselves long enough to not share with everyone trivialities like what their favorite pastry dish is, they would understand that what they are doing is akin to killing a person’s soul. I submit that the reason they don’t care is because their own soul is in such shambles that they know that exposing sin in others would inherently cause their own sin to be exposed as well. So if you’re a Christian who feels guilty about leaving “churches” that would rather cater to “the inmates” than to the “law students”, here’s encouragement that you shouldn’t feel guilty at all. In fact, you should be encouraged because you realizing this is the first step to overcoming error. Lies keep us in bondage, and when it’s so called “leaders” that want to promote those lies, what does one do? ….according to them, it’s “ask the inmates.” According to the Holy Spirit, though, it’s “come out from among them and you be separate… then (God) will receive you.” (2Cor 6:17)

Punished with a Baby? (Barack Obama on Abortion)

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The Art of Dying Well

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I believe in the dignity of humanity—even in death. Made from the dust of the earth in the image and likeness of God, humans were the crowning work of their Creator. Yet we are a fallen creation. The image has been profoundly disfigured. This means that along with our dignity there is depravity. Dignity and depravity: it shouldn’t be too hard to make this dual confession. Side by side in human history, we find great acts of kindness and heroism and horrific acts of hatred, violence and destruction. Clearly, we have fallen from our dignity by rejecting the rule of our Creator.

Our dignity has been deeply marred. Because of this simple yet tragic fact, “From dust we have come and to dust we shall return” (Genesis 3:19). Yes, “Death is the destiny of every person and the living should take this to heart” (Ecclesiastes 7:2). It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor, influential or unknown, educated or uneducated, religious or heathen—each one of us will draw our last breath and die.

Over the past thirty years, Western culture has become more significantly insulated from death. We’ve moved aging and dying out of our homes into hospitals and convalescent homes. Suffering and death is something we visit rather than an ongoing part of our lives. In previous generation, aging parents were brought to the homes of their adult children to finish their days on earth. This came with hardships, discomforts and sacrifices but it also offered an important education in what earlier generations called, “The art of dying well.”

Before going on about dying well, let me acknowledge several truths about death and life.

1. Death is an enemy and a thief –not a welcomed friend.

2. Death reminds us of our sin and the curse

3. Death separates us from our loved ones

4. Death is an occasion for grief and sorrow.

5. Life is precious as made in the image and likeness of God.

6. Life must be valued and promoted.

7. Life must be protected when possible.

Life in our temporal physical bodies is not ultimate and should not be elevated above matters of eternal consequence. Jesus said, “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him” (Luke 12:4-5).

“Believers are not to cling to the trappings of this life till the very end. Rather we should slowly lose our grip on this world as our affections are gradually transferred to the next. This must start early in our Christian lives. It is imperative that, as maturing Christians, we begin early the process of dying. We must no longer fear death; we must see it as a defeated enemy. We must begin to relinquish the material values of this life and to focus increasingly on the life of eternity that God has prepared for us. It is with these perspectives that we will be prepared to face the latter days of our lives.”

“He who fears death or is not willing to die,” wrote Luther, “is not sufficiently Christian. As yet such people lack faith in the resurrection, and love this life more than the life to come” (quoted in A Commentary to the Epistle to the Hebrews by P. E. Hughes, [Grand Rapids, 1977: Eerdmans] 114).

Think of how Jesus faced death with majestic calmness and selfless focus. He hung on that brutal instrument of torture while his followers ran for fear of their lives. The soldiers mocked him and divided his garments. The religious leaders could only express their outrage over the sign on Jesus’ cross. The crowd ridiculed Jesus and shook their heads in disgust. While this was happening, what did Jesus do? He committed no sin and never uttered a deceitful word. Though repeatedly insulted, he did not retaliate. Though he suffered so greatly, he uttered no threats. Instead, He “kept entrusting himself to him who judges justly” (I Peter 2:23). In the garden of Gethsemane, after loud crying and tears to the one who was able to save him from death (Hebrews 5:7), he embraced that Father’s will to be our sin offering. As he hung on the cross dying, Jesus was prayed for his abusers (Father Forgive them), tended to his mother, ministered to a criminal and accomplished our salvation.

When the appointed time had come for him to die, no man took his life from him he laid it down by himself (John 10:18). Jesus called out with a loud voice: “Father into your hands I commit my spirit”. Then he breathed his last breath and died. What dignity!

But the story didn’t end with death because, “God raised him up putting an end to the agony of death since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power” (Acts 2:24). Because Jesus broke the power of death, those who trust him as their Savior should have a radically different view of death. This is where the Scripture offers unparalleled perspective, comfort and hope. If you have come to Jesus and trusted him as Savior, he wants you to be clear that “whoever comes to me I will never drive away” (John 6:37).

Those who come to Christ have been given to him by God the Father and Jesus said, “I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:39-40). Jesus was unequivocally clear when he said, “…because I live, you will live also” (John 14:19).

Those who belong to Jesus should adopt the perspective described in Romans 14:8, “If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” The reason we have this understanding of living and dying is that, “He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep (i.e. alive or dead), we may live together with him” (I Thessalonians 5:10). Yes, “…the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). If you trust in Jesus as your personal Savior, remember his words, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades (Revelation 1:17-18).

Jesus gave his followers encouraging orders: “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3). Consider some of the features of the place awaiting us: “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:3-4).

These words of hope should cause us to join the apostle, confessing that, “…we prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord (II Corinthians 5:8). Even while we desire to serve Christ in this life, we live with tension because at a deeper level, we “desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better (Philippians 1:23). Although death itself is not desired, the destiny awaiting those who belong to Jesus should be strongly desired. This is why the apostle can write, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). We cannot live or die well unless we take ownership of these words. This must become our life purpose statement: “to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

Steve Cornell

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Redemption in Christ

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The unregenerate cannot conceive of a religion unless it is fully entwined with the exercise of free will as an expression of devotion or belief. Genuine Christianity is not a religion if that is how religion is defined. Authentic Christianity consists of God’s work in the hearts of those whom He gave and drew to Christ. The Holy Spirit regenerated them at the will of the Father as they heard the gospel thereby enabling them to believe and repent. From that time forward they serve their Saviour and God as His disciples. Their divine faith, a gift from God, overcomes the world as they obey Him, love Him, and love their brethren. They share their faith with others thereby being obedient disciples whom God uses to bring others into the Kingdom.

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Need A Boost For Your Ministry? Try A Mortuary Outreach.

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Just when you think it can’t get any more foolish in contemporary “Christianity” we now have “mortuary outreach.” Slaughter of the Sheep tells us:

[In this video clip] Melissa Fisher, with Patricia King’s Extreme Prophetic, talks about her evangelism team’s mortuary outreach, where they go into the mortuaries in an attempt to raise the dead. 

True Worship: How Does God Want Me To Worship Him?

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The narrative of John 4:3-26:

Jesus “… left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” 16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17 “I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” 19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” 25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”

The account of Jesus and the Samaritan woman offers some of the most specific information about Worship in all of scripture. Here we have direct statements from the Lord Jesus Christ concerning true worship of God.

Setting the stage for vv. 21-24:

Jesus is traveling from Judea in the south to Galilee in the north. The most direct route is through Samaria. But the most popular one for the Jews is to cross over the Jordan River, avoiding Samaria, by traveling east of the Jordan. The reason for taking the longer route is stated in verse 9: “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” The tensions between Jews and Samaritans extend back to Old Testament times when a group of Jewish people intermarried with foreigners and later became known as Samaritans.

History of Samaritans

The name given to the new and mixed inhabitants whom Esarhaddon (B.C. 677), the king of Assyria, brought from Babylon and other places and settled in the cities of Samaria, instead of the original inhabitants whom Sargon (B.C. 721) had removed into captivity (2 Kings 17:24; comp. Ezra 4:2, 9, 10). These strangers (comp. Luke 17:18) amalgamated with the Jews still remaining in the land, and gradually abandoned their old idolatry and adopted partly the Jewish religion. After the return from the Captivity, the Jews in Jerusalem refused to allow them to take part with them in rebuilding the temple, and hence sprang up an open enmity between them. They erected a rival temple on Mount Gerizim, which was, however, destroyed by a Jewish king (B.C. 130). They then built another at Shechem. The bitter enmity between the Jews and Samaritans continued in the time of our Lord: the Jews had “no dealings with the Samaritans” (John 4:9; comp. Luke 9:52, 53). In contempt, our Lord was called “a Samaritan” (John 8:48). Many of the Samaritans early embraced the gospel (John 4:5-42; Acts 8:25; 9:31; 15:3). Of these Samaritans, there still remains a small population of about one hundred and sixty, who all reside in Shechem, where they carefully observe the religious customs of their fathers. They are the smallest and oldest sect in the World.” (Easton’s Bible Dictionary)

This brief history helps explain why the woman at the well was surprised that Jesus, being a Jew, would even talk with her. The Jews looked on the Samaritans as being unclean. Yet we should remember that there is no partiality with God. Jesus’ decision to go through Samaria was not one of geographical convenience. It was a matter of Divine Appointment for a woman whose heart had been prepared by God for salvation.

The narrative is direct. It is the noon hour (v. 6) and Jesus is tired and weary from his long journey. He stopped at a well and a woman came to draw water from it. Jesus said, “Give me a drink.”

She expresses shock that He would even talk with her. Jesus then redirects the conversation. He said, “If you knew who I am, you would ask for living water. In v. 11, she responds pragmatically asking, “Just how do you expect to get this living water since you have nothing to draw with?”

In vv. 13-14, Jesus in essence says: “You don’t get the point!” “Drink this water and you thirst again. Drink the water I give you and you’ll never thirst again.” At this point (v.15) she seems to almost humor Jesus. But he knows she is not ready so he turns the conversation again (see: vv. 16-18). In these verses, Jesus exposes the obstacle to being a true worshipper of God. What is it? Sin. This woman must face the reality of the sin in her life. But instead (vv. 19-20) she decides to change the subject and this is typical. She starts with a compliment and then moves to a controversial religious issue. People consistently use these distractions to avoid dealing directly with their sin. Her religious diversion was over the right place to worship God. Was it Mount Gerizim, the central place of Samaritan worship or Jerusalem, the central place of Jewish worship? Her point was similar to those who say, “There are so many different religions, how can I know what is right?” But Jesus offers a very direct answer (v. 21). And Jesus’ answer introduces the subject of worship.

Jesus addresses three truths related to worship:

1. The WHERE of worship (v. 21).

2. The WHAT of worship (v. 22).

3. The HOW of worship (vv. 23-24).

1. The where of worship:

Worship among the Jews and the Samaritans focused on right places, times and seasons. The right rituals, sacrifices, temples, Sabbaths, feast days, altars, and priesthood were paramount. Of course, these things had a proper role related to worship, but an improper emphasis was placed on externals over internal reality. It is the dangerous belief that if you’re in the right place, at the right time, performing the right rituals, repeating the right words, then all is well with your soul before God!

When God hates our worship:

There were many times in Israel’s history when God rejected their worship because they were going through the motions without the reality.

Consider God’s Word to Israel:

“I hate, I reject your festivals, nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; and I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:21-23).

Another Word from God:

“’What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?’ says the Lord. ‘I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed cattle. And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats. When you come to appear before Me, who requires of you this trampling of My courts? Bring your worthless offerings no longer, incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and Sabbath, the calling of assemblies- I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, they have become a burden to Me. I am weary to bearing them. So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you, yes, even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen.”” )Isaiah 1:11-15).

God hates ritual without reality. “God delights in loyalty more than sacrifices and the acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:4-6). “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit a broken and contrite heart O God, You will not despise” (Ps. 51:17).

Think about it:

“Worship is not energized by artificial methods. If you feel you must have formalized ritual, or certain kind of mood music to worship, what you do isn’t worship. Music and liturgy can assist or express a worshipping heart, but they cannot make a non-worshipping heart into a worshipping one. The danger is that they can give a non-worshipping heart the sense of having worshipped.”

“So the crucial factor in worship in the church is not the form of worship, but the state of the hearts of the saints. If our corporate worship isn’t the expression of our individual worshipping lives, it is unacceptable. If you think you can live anyway you want and then go to church on Sunday morning and turn on worship with the saints, you’re wrong” (John MacArthur Jr., The Ultimate Priority, pp. 103-104).

With the coming of Jesus, we enter God’s presence in a new and living way (Heb. 10:19-25). Our bodies are the very Temple of the Holy Spirit (I Cor. 6:19). The Church is not a building; it is a community of redeemed believers (I Cor. 3:16-17).

Think about it:

“The source of most of the problems people have in their Christian lives relates to two things: either they are not worshipping six days a week with their life, or they are not worshipping one day a week with the assembly of the saints. We need both! If you go to church only when it is convenient, you will never be victorious and productive as a Christian. You can’t succeed on your own; you need to have the spiritual stimulation of fellow believers. We live in such an easy-come, easy-go, casual, flippant society that people don’t make consistent, faithful commitments, and then they wonder why they fail. The answer is clear. Spiritual success requires commitment to others.” (Ibid, p. 105)

In corporate worship, emphasis must not be on the building, the rituals and the ceremonies, but on God’s glory and the importance of being among his redeemed people.

2. The what of worship:

Jesus briefly addressed the “what” of worship. (“You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.” v.22) The Scripture used by the Samaritans only contained the first five books of the Old Testament. They rejected the rest. As a result, their worship was based in ignorant. It was not worship “in truth.” Imagine the Old Testament without the Psalms and Proverbs, the prophets and their prophecies of the Christ to come. Their understanding of God and his plan was profoundly inadequate.

Think about it:

Because they rejected so much of God’s revelation, they worshipped in ignorance. Is there a similarity with the believer today picking and choosing only parts of the Bible? Could this lead to inadequate worship based in ignorance? Are the liberal scholars and their pastor students guilty of this when they reject certain words of Jesus or certain doctrines about God? Perhaps they worship but their worship is in ignorance and therefore dangerous.

Jesus concluded, “We worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews.” The Jewish people had the right knowledge. Yet, as far as their worship was concerned, many of the Jewish people had the truth of worship without the proper spirit of worship (especially the leaders). The Samaritans had a spirit of worship without the truth of worship. Both are deadly to true worship. This is important to recognize as Jesus moves the discussion to the “How” of worship.

3. The how of worship

In verse 24, Jesus addresses the how of worship (“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth”). Notice that Jesus did not say, “It would be a good idea for you to worship this way.” Nor did he say, “It would be better if you worshipped this way.” Jesus said, “you must…” If you desire to be a true worshipper, the kind that the Father seeks, you must worship him in spirit and truth!

True worshippers worship the Father in spirit and truth.

“In our free and easy democratic ways we often feel that worship in an individual matter. Each of us may worship when and how he or she chooses. It is all up to the individual. But Jesus is denying this. He is saying that our worship must accord with the kind of being God is” (Leon Morris, Reflections on the Gospel of John, Vol. I, p. 145).

What does verse 24 say about God? “God is spirit,” therefore, you must worship him in spirit.

Scripture teaches that we come: -to God the Father –through God the son –by God the Holy Spirit. God being spirit cannot be reduced to an image, an abstract truth or confined to a mountain or a building.

God is a living, personal, perfect, invisible spirit. But the central thing Jesus wanted to emphasize is that place is not the issue. Rather “those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth.”

Questions to ponder:

Do you worship God in Spirit and in truth? What does it mean to worship this way?

Worship in spirit:

Is this a reference to the Holy Spirit or the devotion of the human spirit in worship? If the human spirit, it would seem to emphasize the internal aspect of worship. This is what the apostle Paul referred to when he wrote, “God whom I serve with my spirit” (Rom. 1:9). Other scriptures address the role of the Holy Spirit in worship (see: Rom. 8:26;Phil. 3:3). Since Jesus emphasized a contrast between place of worship and the heart of worship which is spirit and truth worship.

The words for worship in the Bible are defined in terms related to attitudes and actions:

Attitude worship includes: awe, reverence, and fear

Action worship includes: bowing down, serving, giving glory and praising God.

Worship is responding to God in a giving way (Matt.5:2-23). One writer defined worship as:

“The total adoring response of man to the one eternal God self-revealed in time.” (Evelyn Underhill).

When Jesus spoke of worship in spirit and truth, was he emphasizing worship with our total being? The Psalmist wrote, “Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name” (Ps. 103:1). Inner worship is expressed in the words: “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God…” (Ps. 42:2).

Worship in spirit is not some activity that we plan as part of our day or week. It is the proper internal response to all that we know God to be, to do, or to say. It involves the right spirit or attitude toward God.

Thoughts from others:

“Worship is personal and passionate, not formal and cold.” (Warren Wiersbe, Real Worship).

“When thou prayest, rather let thy heart be without words, than thy words without heart” (John Bunyan).

“Christ can never be known without a sense of fear and awe companying the knowledge. He is the fairest among ten thousand, but He is also the Lord high and mighty. He is the friend of sinners, but He is also the terror of devils. He is meek and lowly in heart, but He is also Lord and Christ who will surely come to be the judge of all men. No one who knows Him intimately can ever be flippant in His presence” (Moody Magazine).

The Father seeks worshippers:

God is seeking worshipers who will have the proper internal response to Him. Worshipers must approach Him with the right attitude. God reveals this very pointedly in Is. 66:1-2:

“Thus says the Lord, ‘Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being, declares the Lord. ‘But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.’”

Worship in truth:

Truth must include honesty and sincerity:

We cannot approach God with a deceptive and dishonest heart. We must worship God with honesty and sincerity.

“Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, and has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation” (Psalm 24:3-5).

“We may truly said to worship God, though we lack perfection; but we cannot be said to worship Him if we lack sincerity” (Stephen Charnock, The existence and attributes of God, p. 225-226).

“To pretend a homage to God, and intend only the advantage of self is rather to mock Him than worship Him” (Ibid., p. 241).

Truth could also refer to Revelation from God:

This is worship consistent with what God has revealed in scripture about Himself. It is simply not possible to correctly worship God separate from biblical truth. Such effort would lead to erroneous worship.

Think about it:

“Word and worship belong indissolubly to each other. All worship is an intelligent and loving response to the revelation of God, because it is the adoration of his Name. Therefore acceptable worship is impossible without preaching. For preaching is making known the Name of the Lord, and worship is praising the Name of the Lord made known. Far from being alien intrusion into worship, the reading and preaching of the word are actually indispensable to it. The two cannot be divorced. Indeed, it is their unnatural divorce which accounts for the low level of so much contemporary worship. Our worship is poor because our knowledge of God is poor, and our knowledge of God is poor because our preaching is poor. But when the Word of God is expounded in its fullness, and the congregation begins to glimpse the glory of the living God, they bow down in solemn awe and joyful wonder before this throne. It is preaching which accomplishes this, the proclamation of the Word of God in the power of the Spirit of God. That is why preaching is unique and irreplaceable” (John Stott, Between Two Worlds).

What is taught from the pulpit should enhance your knowledge of who God is, what he has done, what he requires, and how He works. In this way, it will strengthen your worship of God. The worship of the Church depends on the centrality of ministry in the Word of God. Without the objective truth about God in Scripture, worship is inadequate at best.

Questions for application:

Is your worship personal and passionate or formal and cold?

Have you been going through the motions of worship without the internal reality?

Do you worship God with your innermost being?

Do you have the right attitude toward God? A humble and contrite heart that trembles at God’s Word?

Are you honest with God or is there an area you have closed out to Him?

Are you in God’s Word, learning, growing and being transformed?

Read it again:

Jesus said, “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.” (John 4:23)

Two things to help you worship in spirit and truth:

1. Never lose the wonder of it all

“The wonder of it all - to think that God loves me.”

“Beneath the Cross—“…from my smitten heart with tears two wonders I confess- the wonders of redeeming love and my unworthiness.”

“What is man that you are mindful of him?” (Psalm 8:4; cf. also, I Chron. 17:16-18, Psalm 139:1-18;I John 3:1).

“When wonder is dead, the soul becomes a dry bone” (Bishop William Quayle). (see: II Peter 1).

A prayer for worshippers:

“Remove the scales form his eyes, the callousness from his heart, the stubbornness from his will to enable him to enjoy the wonder of it all.” (Warren Wiersbe, Real Worship, p. 47)

2. Appreciate and reflect on the mystery of it all (Rom. 11:33, Eph. 3:19, Phil. 4:7).

Think about it:

“This is the paradox of Christian worship: we seek to see the invisible, know the unknowable, comprehend the incomprehensible, and experience the eternal. Like David, we thirst after God and we are both satisfied and dissatisfied. Like Moses, we cry out for His glory, all the while knowing that our mortal eyes could never behold God’s glory in its fullness. Like Peter, we wrestle with a tension within: we want to follow Him, and yet we cry out, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man!’” (Warren Wiersbe, Real Worship p. 45).

Steve Cornell

Delivered in 1990 at Millersville Bible Church

End of post.

Should We Use Altar Calls in our Evangelism?

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All Roads Lead To Rome….except Christ who is the Way

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Benedict XVI has called the latest synod of bishops to order, and in his opening remarks decries the “Godless” state of the nations. This coming from the head of one of the oldest pagan religions on earth. Read about it here.
This is an interesting quote from the article;
“A document prepared for the meeting rejects a fundamentalist approach to the Bible and said a key challenge was to clarify for the faithful the relationship of scripture to science. A rabbi will address the conference on Monday in what is believed to be the first time a Jew has participated in such a meeting.”

Sounds like .info dogma to me; or any of the other pro-liberal/McClaren/Warren/Bell/emerging etc etc, rags.

Law and Gospel: Galatians (2)

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We have [prevoiusly] seen that the theme of this epistle [to the Galatians] the apostle Paul focused on was the Gospel, and he treated it very seriously. Whatever the error was, this error was a soul-damning error which distorts the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ into a false one which does not save. After spending an extended section establishing his apostolic credentials in Gal. 1:11- 2:10, Paul launches into a discussion of the Gospel with regards to the “works of the law”, which will in fact continue throughout the next 3 chapters. [more]

Obedience & the Sovereign Hand of God (Genesis 20)

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From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar. (2) And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. (3) But God came to Abimelech in a dream [...]

Obedience & the Sovereign Hand of God (2 Chronicles 30)

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Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem to keep the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel. (2) For the king and his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem had taken [...]

Jesus Christ: “Sinner, Come Home”

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“Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” —Matthew 11:28.

There is so much hope here for all those who may be afraid to approach the Lord because of what they have done, for the weary and and for the backslidden. Jesus calls, “come.” This old-time Gospel song, sung by Cynthia Clawson in such a simple way, brings us Christ’s message–come!

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. —Isaiah 1:18

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The Founder of Salvation

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Over the last few days I have been in ‘discussion’ with a couple of fellows who have issues with the post There Are Only Two Religions in the Whole World. One is a professing Christian. The other is of an Eastern religion. I was astounded when it became apparent that their objections about the articles stance on free will were nearly identical thereby proving the point of the article. The basis of Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism are the very same as that of Islam or Hinduism or Buddhism or any other religion except Genuine Christianity. That basis revolves around Man’s Free Will and making a decision then receiving some sort of blessing or curse depending on whether the decision was according to the tenets of the religion or not.

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