This is Pastor Ron Glass of the Wading River Baptist Church in Wading River, Long Island, NY—your pastor for the day.
This Christmas season, I’ve been thinking about faith. Two prominent figures in the story of our Lord’s birth were asked to believe God. One was a jewish priest named Zacharias. An older man—probably over 60 years of age—he, along with his wife, Elizabeth, is described in Luke’s account as “righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord” (Lk 1:6). Unquestionably, he knew the Old Testament prophetic Scriptures concerning Messiah’s coming.
One day, he was chosen by lot to present the incense offering in the Holy Place of the Temple—something every priest longed to do, and could do only once in his life. In the course of his ministry that day, Zacharias encountered the angel Gabriel, who informed him that his wife, long past the age of child bearing, would have a son, and that this son would be Messiah’s promised forerunner. We would think that such a righteous and blameless man would immediately have rejoiced, embracing the angel’s revelation with implicit faith. But no, his response was to doubt the possibility that his wife could have a child, and in so doubting, Zacharias demanded confirmation—proof, in other words, that this would be so. The angel announced to him that the proof he asked would be his inability to speak until the son had been born.
The other figure in the advent narrative is a teen-aged Jewish girl from the obscure village of Nazareth in the territory of Galilee. Her name was Mary. One day, while sitting in her house, a strange man walked in, and as we might expect, she was terrified. This man, however, identified himself as Gabriel, the same angel who had previously appeared to Zacharias. He had a message from God to her. She would become pregnant and bear a son who would not only be Israel’s long-awaited Messiah, but would also be the very Son of God. Mary’s initial reaction was also to question the angel. But her logical question—“How can this be, seeing I am not married?”—was motivated by a different attitude than was Zacharias’ question. She just needed more information, and Gabriel proceeds to tell her that the Holy Spirit would protect her and that her pregnancy would be the work of God himself. But he said something else of great importance: “For nothing will be impossible with God” (Lk 1:37). Literally, “For not every word of God will be impossible.” God can do what He says He can do! Mary’s response is exemplary: “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38).
Here’s the question that faces you and me: are we willing to receive God’s Word by faith? Are we willing to trust God in spite of all the apparent impossibilities connected with our lives? Are we truly willing to believe that with God, nothing is impossible? Sure, you say. But then let me ask you: why is it that you try so hard to solve all your own problems and straighten out your own messes? Why do you worry so much when things don’t go well? Why do you act as though that financial crisis, that family problem, or that illness is beyond God’s capability? How often have you said, “I just don’t know what I’m going to do!”, or even more, “There’s just no hope for me!” How often have you run to other people for help?
The key to a living faith is Mary’s attitude of humble submission to God. If we see ourselves as His abject bondslaves then we will realize that we have neither the wisdom, nor the resources, nor the power to figure out or straighten out our problems. We need to say with Mary, “be it done to me according to your word,” and then trust Mary’s Son who told us, “I will never leave you or forsake you” . . . “I am with you to the end of the age.” Elizabeth’s commendation of Mary still rings true: “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her.” Beloved, let’s believe God! Have a most blessed Christmas!
This has been Pastor Ron Glass of the Wading River Baptist Church in Wading River, Long Island, New York, your Pastor for the Day.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Entitled or Thankful?
This is Pastor Ron Glass of the Wading River Baptist Church in Wading River, Long Island, NY—your pastor for the day.
In a recent column in the Washington Post, commentator George Will discussed the federal government’s decision to give all Social Security recipients (and some other citizens as well) a $250 cost of living adjustment in spite of the fact there was no cost of living increase. Will says that this decision is “the capstone to the architecture of the entitlement culture that is modern liberalism's crowning achievement: It is an entitlement to which you are entitled even when you are not entitled to it.” In a nation drowning in debt, how could we come to this point? The real answer is simply fear. Our retirees (who, by the way, vote faithfully), are afraid of the economic future, and since the virtue of families taking care of each other has disappeared to a large extent in modern America, our elderly have nowhere to look for support but to the government.
Here, then, is the mindset of modern Americans, young and old alike. Government is the bank account of last resort. We have come to a point where we assume that a comfortable retirement is a right. So, too, are education, health care, unemployment benefits, and a variety of other services—“rights” of which our Founding Fathers never dreamed. If you can’t provide it for yourself, and if no one else will provide it for you, then it is the government’s responsibility to give it to you. That’s an entitlement.
We Christians should have a problem with this. Nowhere in the Scriptures are we accorded any entitlements—with the exception of one, and that is eternal hell. But of course, through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ (and grace is undeserved kindness) we have been delivered from eternal condemnation. In addition, we have been given the authority (or right) to be called the sons of God (Jn 1:12). Everything else, however, is ours by grace. We are promised our daily needs. Paul writes, “My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19). The Lord Jesus himself told us: “Do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself” (Mt 6:34). In fact, if we seek first the things that concern the Lord and His righteousness as a way of life, then all the other things will be added to us (v. 33).
That truth leads Paul to lay down this most important principle: “Be anxious for nothing [that means, don’t worry about anything], but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:6-7). So as Christians, we are entitled to bring our requests to the Lord with the assurance that He will meet our needs and give us peace over the worry which so easily afflicts us.
But note the necessary accompaniment to our prayers . . . thanksgiving. All of our praying for the things we need to live in the world is to be linked to the expression of our thankfulness to God. When we look back and review how the Lord has provided for us, we should be profoundly grateful, and that gratitude motivates us to pray for present and future needs as well. So here’s the challenge. We live in a culture where the government is regarded as the supplier of last resort, and where people see themselves as entitled to a share of its largesse. The very concept of entitlements makes us self-centered, taking our eyes off of the God who promises to meet our needs and taking away the incentive both for prayer and for thanksgiving. Entitlements presuppose pride and fear; thankfulness presupposes faith.
In this Thanksgiving season, therefore, let’s not put our faith in government entitlement programs. Trust the Lord. If you’re in Christ, then He has promised to meet your need. Thank Him for what He has done for you in the past, and have faith that He will provide for you in the future. And have a blessed Thanksgiving season!
This has been Pastor Ron Glass of the Wading River Baptist Church in Wading River, Long Island, New York, your Pastor for the Day. Visit us on the web at www.wrbc.us.
In a recent column in the Washington Post, commentator George Will discussed the federal government’s decision to give all Social Security recipients (and some other citizens as well) a $250 cost of living adjustment in spite of the fact there was no cost of living increase. Will says that this decision is “the capstone to the architecture of the entitlement culture that is modern liberalism's crowning achievement: It is an entitlement to which you are entitled even when you are not entitled to it.” In a nation drowning in debt, how could we come to this point? The real answer is simply fear. Our retirees (who, by the way, vote faithfully), are afraid of the economic future, and since the virtue of families taking care of each other has disappeared to a large extent in modern America, our elderly have nowhere to look for support but to the government.
Here, then, is the mindset of modern Americans, young and old alike. Government is the bank account of last resort. We have come to a point where we assume that a comfortable retirement is a right. So, too, are education, health care, unemployment benefits, and a variety of other services—“rights” of which our Founding Fathers never dreamed. If you can’t provide it for yourself, and if no one else will provide it for you, then it is the government’s responsibility to give it to you. That’s an entitlement.
We Christians should have a problem with this. Nowhere in the Scriptures are we accorded any entitlements—with the exception of one, and that is eternal hell. But of course, through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ (and grace is undeserved kindness) we have been delivered from eternal condemnation. In addition, we have been given the authority (or right) to be called the sons of God (Jn 1:12). Everything else, however, is ours by grace. We are promised our daily needs. Paul writes, “My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19). The Lord Jesus himself told us: “Do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself” (Mt 6:34). In fact, if we seek first the things that concern the Lord and His righteousness as a way of life, then all the other things will be added to us (v. 33).
That truth leads Paul to lay down this most important principle: “Be anxious for nothing [that means, don’t worry about anything], but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:6-7). So as Christians, we are entitled to bring our requests to the Lord with the assurance that He will meet our needs and give us peace over the worry which so easily afflicts us.
But note the necessary accompaniment to our prayers . . . thanksgiving. All of our praying for the things we need to live in the world is to be linked to the expression of our thankfulness to God. When we look back and review how the Lord has provided for us, we should be profoundly grateful, and that gratitude motivates us to pray for present and future needs as well. So here’s the challenge. We live in a culture where the government is regarded as the supplier of last resort, and where people see themselves as entitled to a share of its largesse. The very concept of entitlements makes us self-centered, taking our eyes off of the God who promises to meet our needs and taking away the incentive both for prayer and for thanksgiving. Entitlements presuppose pride and fear; thankfulness presupposes faith.
In this Thanksgiving season, therefore, let’s not put our faith in government entitlement programs. Trust the Lord. If you’re in Christ, then He has promised to meet your need. Thank Him for what He has done for you in the past, and have faith that He will provide for you in the future. And have a blessed Thanksgiving season!
This has been Pastor Ron Glass of the Wading River Baptist Church in Wading River, Long Island, New York, your Pastor for the Day. Visit us on the web at www.wrbc.us.
Mind the Checks
This is Pastor Ron Glass of the Wading River Baptist Church in Wading River, Long Island, NY—your pastor for the day.
Reading a popular old devotional book recently, I found this comment about a woman who was known for rapid spiritual growth. When asked for the reason for her apparently easy progress in the Christian life, she responded with these simple words: “Mind the checks.” The writer of the devotional described these “checks” as the Lord’s “delicate restraints and constraints,” “His still, small voice,” almost timidly spoken, and a “steady, gentle pressure upon the heart and mind.” There is significant truth here, but truth we evangelicals often overlook. Let me explain why.
1. First, we pride ourselves on our commitment to biblical revelation. We believe that the Bible is the Word of God, and that God speaks to us through it. In fact, that is where we are to look for guidance in the practical, everyday problems and questions of life. As a result, we tend to be critical of Christians who practice a subjective, experiential kind of Christianity. Such people are always talking about how they feel “in their spirit.” However, when some Christian teacher suggests that the Lord may check our behavior by impressing a warning deeply within our souls, we object. That’s just too mystical for our tastes. God no longer speaks to people that way . . . or so we think.
2. Second—and this is the other side of the coin—our unfamiliarity with Scripture leaves us with very little experience of the Lord’s leading. The Spirit of God always uses the Word of God to guide us. But He does not work in a vacuum. So when we are tempted to sin, the Spirit will gently apply a specific passage from Scripture to warn us and persuade us to desist—that is, if we are sufficiently aware of the biblical requirements for godliness. Most Christians will testify that the Lord almost always whispers before He shouts! Most of us, however, aren’t listening. That’s because . . .
3. Third, we are plagued by a lack of quiet. That “still, small voice” cannot be heard when there is noise. In order to grow in grace, we need periods of sustained quiet, and most of us find our lives so cluttered with noise that we rarely have any solitude. But we will make more progress in the faith in an hour or two spent in quiet fellowship with the Lord than we will in many days of busyness and noise.
In 1 Kings 19, the OT prophet Elijah learned the lesson of (literally) the “sound of gentle blowing” when the Lord did not appear, successively, in a violent wind, a powerful earthquake, or a raging fire, but only in that sound of gentle blowing. And by that point, Elijah had gotten alone with the Lord and was quiet enough to hear the Lord’s instructions
Perhaps you were ready to say something, and all at once, there was a pressure upon your heart to refrain from speaking. Most likely, since you are a believer, that was God telling you to keep quiet. You launch perfectly innocently, upon some course of action, but then you experience a conviction, gently impressed upon you, that you must not go through with that decision. So when you have considered a problem and have made a decision to act, and suddenly there comes a convicting sensation, you do best to stop and consider whether or not it is from God. The Lord may be checking you—warning you that your decision will lead to more problems, or even disaster, down the road. Don’t forget that the Lord usually works in very different ways than we might expect, and sometimes His ways make no sense at first.
Finally, consider this. If you fail to “mind the checks,” there may well come a day when the checks cease. That “still, small voice” will no longer speak. So abandon your own wisdom. Learn to wait on God for Him to reveal His will, and then let Him lead you in obeying it. And by all means: mind the checks! And obey . . . even in the dark.
This has been Pastor Ron Glass of the Wading River Baptist Church in Wading River, Long Island, New York, your Pastor for the Day. Visit us on the web at www.wrbc.us.
Reading a popular old devotional book recently, I found this comment about a woman who was known for rapid spiritual growth. When asked for the reason for her apparently easy progress in the Christian life, she responded with these simple words: “Mind the checks.” The writer of the devotional described these “checks” as the Lord’s “delicate restraints and constraints,” “His still, small voice,” almost timidly spoken, and a “steady, gentle pressure upon the heart and mind.” There is significant truth here, but truth we evangelicals often overlook. Let me explain why.
1. First, we pride ourselves on our commitment to biblical revelation. We believe that the Bible is the Word of God, and that God speaks to us through it. In fact, that is where we are to look for guidance in the practical, everyday problems and questions of life. As a result, we tend to be critical of Christians who practice a subjective, experiential kind of Christianity. Such people are always talking about how they feel “in their spirit.” However, when some Christian teacher suggests that the Lord may check our behavior by impressing a warning deeply within our souls, we object. That’s just too mystical for our tastes. God no longer speaks to people that way . . . or so we think.
2. Second—and this is the other side of the coin—our unfamiliarity with Scripture leaves us with very little experience of the Lord’s leading. The Spirit of God always uses the Word of God to guide us. But He does not work in a vacuum. So when we are tempted to sin, the Spirit will gently apply a specific passage from Scripture to warn us and persuade us to desist—that is, if we are sufficiently aware of the biblical requirements for godliness. Most Christians will testify that the Lord almost always whispers before He shouts! Most of us, however, aren’t listening. That’s because . . .
3. Third, we are plagued by a lack of quiet. That “still, small voice” cannot be heard when there is noise. In order to grow in grace, we need periods of sustained quiet, and most of us find our lives so cluttered with noise that we rarely have any solitude. But we will make more progress in the faith in an hour or two spent in quiet fellowship with the Lord than we will in many days of busyness and noise.
In 1 Kings 19, the OT prophet Elijah learned the lesson of (literally) the “sound of gentle blowing” when the Lord did not appear, successively, in a violent wind, a powerful earthquake, or a raging fire, but only in that sound of gentle blowing. And by that point, Elijah had gotten alone with the Lord and was quiet enough to hear the Lord’s instructions
Perhaps you were ready to say something, and all at once, there was a pressure upon your heart to refrain from speaking. Most likely, since you are a believer, that was God telling you to keep quiet. You launch perfectly innocently, upon some course of action, but then you experience a conviction, gently impressed upon you, that you must not go through with that decision. So when you have considered a problem and have made a decision to act, and suddenly there comes a convicting sensation, you do best to stop and consider whether or not it is from God. The Lord may be checking you—warning you that your decision will lead to more problems, or even disaster, down the road. Don’t forget that the Lord usually works in very different ways than we might expect, and sometimes His ways make no sense at first.
Finally, consider this. If you fail to “mind the checks,” there may well come a day when the checks cease. That “still, small voice” will no longer speak. So abandon your own wisdom. Learn to wait on God for Him to reveal His will, and then let Him lead you in obeying it. And by all means: mind the checks! And obey . . . even in the dark.
This has been Pastor Ron Glass of the Wading River Baptist Church in Wading River, Long Island, New York, your Pastor for the Day. Visit us on the web at www.wrbc.us.
The Secret
This is Pastor Ron Glass of the Wading River Baptist Church in Wading River, Long Island, NY—your pastor for the day.
The careful observer of evangelical Christianity at the present time can-not help but notice a significant problem. The past generation has seen the advent of a host of ministry philosophies and strategies, all of which have been vigorously promoted in the Christian media. Some of these philoso-phies and strategies initially appeared to be having considerable success, resulting in large churches with large buildings and budgets. But some-thing has begun to happen in the past few years. Even the church growth experts are noticing that the disillusioned people who are leaving our churches—some are even abandoning Christianity altogether—are opting out for different reasons than the experts had supposed. The overwhelming majority are leaving because they’re failing to find personal fulfillment. Af-ter they’ve done church, they’re left with a strange emptiness in their souls. Christianity has failed to satisfy them. Why?
The answer is not hard to find, but it is not one which very many profess-ing Christians want to hear. Some churches have emphasized the intellec-tual component of Christianity, preaching strong doctrine and systematical-ly expounding the Scriptures; yet many of the people who attend these churches have found that all this teaching has left their spirits hard and dry. Through various means, other churches have sought to provide their congregations with satisfying, even exciting, emotional worship, and yet in spite of a highly charged tone, many of their people, once they have walked out the door of the church, find themselves spiritually barren and unsatis-fied.
If intellectual understanding of the faith, and even a personal commit-ment to Christ isn’t satisfying; and if frequent emotional highs don’t provide the deep spiritual joy and peace so many Christians crave, then what does? The answer is simple, and was given by the Lord Jesus Christ. In John 10:10, He declares: “I came that they may have life, and have it abun-dantly.” This abundant life is accessed through a personal relationship of knowing Him. As our Lord put it in His high priestly prayer: “This is eter-nal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (Jn 17:3). But what is the secret of entering into this intima-cy with Christ? In His Upper Room Discourse (John 14-16), our Lord made it explicitly clear to His disciples. Listen closely to His words from chapter 14: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (v. 15). “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me” (v. 21). “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him” (v. 23). “He who does not love Me does not keep My words” (v. 24). Then from chapter 15: “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love” (v. 10). “You are My friends if you do what I command you” (v. 14).
So what’s the secret of a spiritually satisfying personal life or a meaning-ful church life? Obedience. Doing what the Lord Jesus tells you to do. Keeping the commandments of God’s Word. Many of us are vainly seeking for the elusive meaning, peace, joy, and satisfaction of intimacy with God while finding every possible excuse to avoid living a life of obedience. Let me assure you, however, that you will never experience deep communion with God or the Lord Jesus Christ if you refuse to do the things He has commanded you to do.
So stop seeking for that satisfying relationship with God in a weekly wor-ship service or intense Bible study, in meditation, solitude, prayer, or in reading great Christian devotional classics. As good as these disciplines are, you’ll come up empty every time until you commit your life to unre-served obedience.
This has been Pastor Ron Glass of the Wading River Baptist Church in Wading River, Long Island, New York, your Pastor for the Day. Visit us on the web at www.wrbc.us.
The careful observer of evangelical Christianity at the present time can-not help but notice a significant problem. The past generation has seen the advent of a host of ministry philosophies and strategies, all of which have been vigorously promoted in the Christian media. Some of these philoso-phies and strategies initially appeared to be having considerable success, resulting in large churches with large buildings and budgets. But some-thing has begun to happen in the past few years. Even the church growth experts are noticing that the disillusioned people who are leaving our churches—some are even abandoning Christianity altogether—are opting out for different reasons than the experts had supposed. The overwhelming majority are leaving because they’re failing to find personal fulfillment. Af-ter they’ve done church, they’re left with a strange emptiness in their souls. Christianity has failed to satisfy them. Why?
The answer is not hard to find, but it is not one which very many profess-ing Christians want to hear. Some churches have emphasized the intellec-tual component of Christianity, preaching strong doctrine and systematical-ly expounding the Scriptures; yet many of the people who attend these churches have found that all this teaching has left their spirits hard and dry. Through various means, other churches have sought to provide their congregations with satisfying, even exciting, emotional worship, and yet in spite of a highly charged tone, many of their people, once they have walked out the door of the church, find themselves spiritually barren and unsatis-fied.
If intellectual understanding of the faith, and even a personal commit-ment to Christ isn’t satisfying; and if frequent emotional highs don’t provide the deep spiritual joy and peace so many Christians crave, then what does? The answer is simple, and was given by the Lord Jesus Christ. In John 10:10, He declares: “I came that they may have life, and have it abun-dantly.” This abundant life is accessed through a personal relationship of knowing Him. As our Lord put it in His high priestly prayer: “This is eter-nal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (Jn 17:3). But what is the secret of entering into this intima-cy with Christ? In His Upper Room Discourse (John 14-16), our Lord made it explicitly clear to His disciples. Listen closely to His words from chapter 14: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (v. 15). “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me” (v. 21). “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him” (v. 23). “He who does not love Me does not keep My words” (v. 24). Then from chapter 15: “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love” (v. 10). “You are My friends if you do what I command you” (v. 14).
So what’s the secret of a spiritually satisfying personal life or a meaning-ful church life? Obedience. Doing what the Lord Jesus tells you to do. Keeping the commandments of God’s Word. Many of us are vainly seeking for the elusive meaning, peace, joy, and satisfaction of intimacy with God while finding every possible excuse to avoid living a life of obedience. Let me assure you, however, that you will never experience deep communion with God or the Lord Jesus Christ if you refuse to do the things He has commanded you to do.
So stop seeking for that satisfying relationship with God in a weekly wor-ship service or intense Bible study, in meditation, solitude, prayer, or in reading great Christian devotional classics. As good as these disciplines are, you’ll come up empty every time until you commit your life to unre-served obedience.
This has been Pastor Ron Glass of the Wading River Baptist Church in Wading River, Long Island, New York, your Pastor for the Day. Visit us on the web at www.wrbc.us.
A Severe Famine
This is Pastor Ron Glass of the Wading River Baptist Church in Wading River, Long Island, NY—your pastor for the day.
In Old Testament Israel, a famine meant something. God promised His people abundance for obedience. If Israel failed to live according to the righteous requirements of God’s covenant with them, the Lord said that “the heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron. The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed” (Dt 28:23-24). When Israel forgets God, according to the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32, “they will be wasted with famine” (v. 24).
In the waning years of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, the Prophet Amos delivered a sobering message from the Lord: “‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord God, ‘When I will send a famine on the land, not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, but rather for hearing the words of the Lord” (Amos 8:11). God’s judgment would be signaled by the cessation of prophetic activity. That meant that the Lord would stop speaking to a nation who refused to listen.
This truth brings me to a heavy burden I have for evangelical Christianity today. Last month in my radio devotional I emphasized the critical importance of diligent Bible study. We are to handle the Word of God with precision and accuracy, “cutting it straight,” as Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15. Those who stand in the pulpits of our churches are to “preach the Word” (2 Tim 4:2). Evangelical, Bible-believing churches must be committed to the primacy of preaching. Increasingly, however, our churches are undermining the authoritative declaration of God’s Word. This often takes the form of increasing the amount of time devoted to music and decreasing that devoted to preaching. Preaching itself is often a pastiche of video clips, object lessons, personal anecdotes and stories—with some Bible thrown in for good measure. Expository preaching—the kind of preaching that builds strong churches—has largely fallen out of favor.
In addition, many churches have eliminated the Lord’s Day evening service, again reducing the opportunity for the teaching of God’s Word. A considerable number of churches no longer have Sunday School, particularly for adults. And although many churches have emphasized small group ministries, the depth of teaching in such groups is often minimal. Inundated by electronic media, God’s people don’t read much any more, and when they do, it’s usually not Christian, and when it’s Christian, more often than not, they’re reading fiction.
The problem also extends to pastors, especially younger pastors, as seminaries have altered their curricula to include less of biblical languages, biblical content, and biblical theology. Pastors enter pulpits less prepared than previous generations to teach the Word of God with precision, accuracy, credibility, and authority. The impact of all of this, therefore, is a growing biblical illiteracy among pastors and people alike—a famine for hearing the words of the Lord!
I am burdened for the future of evangelical Christianity in America. We must make the Bible our priority once again. The Lord told Joshua, “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success” (Josh 1:8). Throughout its pages, the Bible makes this point repeatedly. God’s work rises or falls on God’s Word. There is no substitute for Scripture: books, videos, small groups, conferences, web sites or blogs—none of it can replace the preaching and teaching of the God-breathed revelation contained in the Bible. I therefore exhort starving Christians and famine-ridden churches: it’s time to get back to the Bible!
This has been Pastor Ron Glass of the Wading River Baptist Church in Wading River, Long Island, New York, your Pastor for the Day. Visit us on the web at www.wrbc.us.
In Old Testament Israel, a famine meant something. God promised His people abundance for obedience. If Israel failed to live according to the righteous requirements of God’s covenant with them, the Lord said that “the heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron. The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed” (Dt 28:23-24). When Israel forgets God, according to the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32, “they will be wasted with famine” (v. 24).
In the waning years of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, the Prophet Amos delivered a sobering message from the Lord: “‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord God, ‘When I will send a famine on the land, not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, but rather for hearing the words of the Lord” (Amos 8:11). God’s judgment would be signaled by the cessation of prophetic activity. That meant that the Lord would stop speaking to a nation who refused to listen.
This truth brings me to a heavy burden I have for evangelical Christianity today. Last month in my radio devotional I emphasized the critical importance of diligent Bible study. We are to handle the Word of God with precision and accuracy, “cutting it straight,” as Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15. Those who stand in the pulpits of our churches are to “preach the Word” (2 Tim 4:2). Evangelical, Bible-believing churches must be committed to the primacy of preaching. Increasingly, however, our churches are undermining the authoritative declaration of God’s Word. This often takes the form of increasing the amount of time devoted to music and decreasing that devoted to preaching. Preaching itself is often a pastiche of video clips, object lessons, personal anecdotes and stories—with some Bible thrown in for good measure. Expository preaching—the kind of preaching that builds strong churches—has largely fallen out of favor.
In addition, many churches have eliminated the Lord’s Day evening service, again reducing the opportunity for the teaching of God’s Word. A considerable number of churches no longer have Sunday School, particularly for adults. And although many churches have emphasized small group ministries, the depth of teaching in such groups is often minimal. Inundated by electronic media, God’s people don’t read much any more, and when they do, it’s usually not Christian, and when it’s Christian, more often than not, they’re reading fiction.
The problem also extends to pastors, especially younger pastors, as seminaries have altered their curricula to include less of biblical languages, biblical content, and biblical theology. Pastors enter pulpits less prepared than previous generations to teach the Word of God with precision, accuracy, credibility, and authority. The impact of all of this, therefore, is a growing biblical illiteracy among pastors and people alike—a famine for hearing the words of the Lord!
I am burdened for the future of evangelical Christianity in America. We must make the Bible our priority once again. The Lord told Joshua, “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success” (Josh 1:8). Throughout its pages, the Bible makes this point repeatedly. God’s work rises or falls on God’s Word. There is no substitute for Scripture: books, videos, small groups, conferences, web sites or blogs—none of it can replace the preaching and teaching of the God-breathed revelation contained in the Bible. I therefore exhort starving Christians and famine-ridden churches: it’s time to get back to the Bible!
This has been Pastor Ron Glass of the Wading River Baptist Church in Wading River, Long Island, New York, your Pastor for the Day. Visit us on the web at www.wrbc.us.
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