The Sovereignty of God (One verse)

I had a few people ask me to post the verse I wrote and performed for the "Fresh Encounters" event at Webster Bible Church last night. The theme of the event was God's Sovereignty.

So, here it is. Enjoy.

"Who measured the waters in the hollows of His hand?
Who separated the heavens with a span?
Enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure,
and measured every mountain by the scale of His pleasure?

Com'on man, if you know Him, Praise His name.
Its Yahweh the sovereign over everythang.

And if your trip'n over sovereignties definition,
give me a minute to explain this complicated diction.

Psalm forty seven, verse seven: God is King of the earth and not just over heaven.
Psalm one fifteen and verse three say's our God is in the heavens and He does all that He pleases.

All powerful, the Lord always gets His way,
He's never been out of control, never been dismayed

Even the winds and the waves they obey Him
Heaven and earth on their knees when they praise Him
The Lion of Judah, the King over the nations
He was commander and chief prior to the creation

His sovereignty crosses to ecclesiology in how we govern the church, its His methodology
And every section has its task and its duty, and if done right you'll see the bride as a beauty

Now that takes us from the world down to the church
But what about your own life, family and work
Dont forget you were created out of dirt
But He extrinsically gave you value and worth.

He's even sovereign over our free actions
No reactions
God ordains all things to happen

And when we submit to God's word written
We'll have no problem with His compatibleism

So sit back, relax and bask in Gods Glory
As Pastor Matt tells the rest of the story"

Make Believe

This past sunday at my church (Webster Bible Church), the senior Pastor read a poem written by his father James Fletcher. I was amazed at the beauty and truthfulness of the poem and find it to be one of the best I have ever read. With permission, I have posted it here for your reading enjoyment. Read the whole thing and you will be blessed!!

"MAKE BELIEVE"

by James W. Fletcher

I often watch my children play,

And how amazed I am that they

Are occupied for hours on end

By games that start with “let’s pretend.”

They play at “house”, they play at “store”;

They play at “school”; they play at “war”.

They play at “cops and robbers”, too—

There’s nothing little minds can’t do.

Yes, “let’s pretend” contributes joy

To every little girl and boy;

And drab and dull would childhood be,

If it were not for fantasy.

The thought that weighs upon my mind,

Is some don’t  leave those years behind.

Concerning things “beyond the veil”,

They still let fantasy prevail.

They make believe religion saves,

And scorn the thought that sin depraves;

And so delude themselves within,

That God is dead or winks at sin.

They make believe there is no hell;

They make believe their souls are well.

They reason, under false pretense,

That works will be their sure defense.

Behold the final, fearful end

Of those like babes, who still pretend!

For in eternal things, you see,

There is no room for fantasy.

For fantasy oft times conflicts

With that which God on high edicts;

And fiction from the days of youth

Must not displace the written truth.

Because the Bible doth reveal

That mankind’s need for Christ is real.

Imagination has a role—

But not in matters of the soul.

And what of you, good Christian friend?

Do you serve God or just pretend?

Do you the Holy Spirit grieve

With service only “make believe”?

Are you chaff?

Why is it that so many potentially great men/women of God never seem to reach their full potential?

Of course that question is loaded, in the sense that God is sovereign and divinely ordains all that comes to pass. However true that may be, we know as Christians we cannot to always live at the bottom line. In other words, we can’t throw our hands up and ascribe to a form of fatalism.

We must recognize that though God does determine the ends, He likewise determines the means.

So to get back to my original question, why is it that so many potentially great men of God never seem to reach their full potential?

I think the answer is Prayer, or lack there of.

How easy is it to shame a man by asking them how their prayer life is.

How often am I ashamed when someone asks me how my prayer life has been.

As I read through R. Kent Hughes book “Living on the cutting edge”, one of his opening principles for spiritual leadership is dependence on God through prayer.

If you take the time to read through Exodus 17.8-15 you will come to realize that Joshua didn’t win that war with the power of his army, but by the Power of God. Thus Joshua learned an important lesson that day; that the foundation of any victory lies in God’s power.

How true is that for us today? So many “spiritual leaders” are attempting to minister by the power of self, rather than leaning on the power of God through prayer.  Have we forgotten that we are wretches, sinners and powerless in the spiritual realm apart from God? Hughes writes, “No one attains true spiritual leadership who thinks that his power is his own or that past victories are due to his own genius. The overriding lesson Joshua learned at Rephidim was that the backbone of any work done for God is prayer.”

I give a hearty AMEN to that!

All things done apart from Him is chaff. Prayer and dependence on God will enable any man to do great and lasting things for the Kingdom. 

Man, God and Ministry

It is truly amazing how our God works. His sovereignty is so complex, yet so simple. He rules, governs and dictates every atom of every galaxy with an iron fist, yet we are able to make decisions and choices at our own discretion, according to our nature. "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!" Romans 11.33

As we know, ministry is a sacred task. One that no minister should ever take lightly. From the minister of children to the minister of the elderly, all of God's work has equal value and importance. Thus, as ministers, we should make every human effort to maximize our ministry in a manner that is pleasing to God. 

But the question must be raised. If God is sovereign, why must we work so hard to be "the sharpest tool in the shed" for the sake of Christ? Why must we strive for holiness and soundness of theology to be used of God in the growing of His kingdom? God is more than able to use even the most sinful christian to expand his kingdom isn't He?

The obvious answer is yes, God can and does use sinful men and women to expand His kingdom on a daily basis. I would argue that God uses "defeated" christians to give himself glory in the expansion of His kingdom. Even a fallen pastor can prove to bear fruit simply by someone witnessing the sincerity of his repentance.

To be sure, if your only striving for holiness and soundness of theology to be effective in ministry, you may want to re-evaluate your understanding of the atonement and your love for God.

Charles H Spurgeon in his work "Lectures to my students" anticipates questions like these and in my opinion gives great insight. He writes: 

"...but we cannot regard God’s absolutely sovereign acts as a rule for our action. He may, in His own absoluteness, do as pleases Him best, but we must act as His plainer dispensations instruct us; and one of the facts which is clear enough is this, that the Lord usually adapts means to ends, from which the plain lesson is, that we shall be likely to accomplish most when we are in the best spiritual condition; or in other words, we shall usually do our Lord’s work best when our gifts and graces are in good order, and we shall do worst when they are most out of trim. This is a practical truth for our guidance. When the Lord makes exceptions, they do but prove the rule... It will be in vain for me to stock my library, or organise societies, or project schemes, if I neglect the culture of myself; for books, and agencies, and systems, are only remotely the instruments of my holy calling; my own spirit, soul, and body, are my nearest machinery for sacred service; my spiritual faculties, and my inner life, are my battle axe and weapons of war... It is not great talents God blesses so much as likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.”

-Spurgeon, Charles H. (2010-05-04). Lectures to My Students (p.7-8). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. 

This quote is full of truth!!!

Although God is sovereign, we must do our very best, as it regards human effort, in the building up of the spirit that God has quickened within us. We must strive for Christ-likeness if we are to be constantly effective weapons in the hands of God. And a truly Christ like weapon will preach the Word, for he/she knows that it is the Word, accompanied by the Spirit's unction, that brings about God’s will in our ministries.

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;  it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." Isaiah 55.10-11

Preach the Word

One of the most beneficial and effective forms of preaching, in my opinion, is expository preaching.

1. The whole council of God is eventually taught with expository preaching. 

   Where as pastors who preach topically tend to preach on there favorite themes week after week. I was once an attendee of a friday night service at a local church in boston. For the 8 weeks I went, at least 6 of them eventually turned to a message against sexual sin. The problem was that these teachings were being taught out of sections of scripture that it had no correlation to sexual sin what so ever. What we were getting was the pastors favorite topics, not the text.

2. Expository preaching forces the preacher to teach each passage in its proper context. 

  Whether it be an argumentative flow of thought, literary genre, historical context or otherwise. No verse can be taught  contrary to its context. Thus the preacher is more likely to cone to an accurate understanding of the text at hand.

3. Expository preaching ensures that the preacher preaches on he "hard"teachings of scripture. 

   

   If a pastor has committed himself to expository preaching, he will likely preach through particular books of the Bible. This will force him to touch on all areas and themes that scripture presents. Whether it be the doctrine of Election or the Syrophoenician woman, all themes will eventually get dealt with.

If your pastor doesn't preach in such a fashion, I believe he is doing a disservice to his people. For it is the fruits of expository preaching that brings about spiritual maturity and growth within a congregation. 

A Shocking Reminder of the Reality of Persecution!

As I woke up this morning and went through my daily routine of listening to various pod casts on various topics, I came across a severely disturbing video. 


For the sake of those with weak stomachs I will not put the link on this blog. 


It depicted a middle eastern man who had converted to Christianity from Islam (So the commentary has it). He was being executed for apostasy from Islam. The video shows him having his head cut off with a dull knife as he lay on the ground on his side.


 Anyone who listens to Todd Friel from Wretched Radio can hear where to find the article and video. The episode date is 6/5/2012


The man, as his head is being sawed off with a dull knife, seems not to even be able to scream due to his wind pipe being severed. The expression on the mans face is of sheer terror, shock and pain!!! His life was brutally taken from him by the hands of men who think to be honoring God, yet are not. For “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away... Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me (John 16.2-3). 


How many of us American Christians would be able to say with any level of confidence that if faced with the same circumstances as this man, we would hold fast to the Lord till the very end? How many of us would, as the apostle Paul, be willing to suffer being beheaded for the sake of the Gospel? Are you able to with stand the brutality of persecution for Christ's name sake?


I pray that the Lord would keep me and you from falling away from the faith for it is the Lord who is able to keep us from stumbling (Jude 24), and seal us for the day of redemption (Eph 4.30)


Let us take our walks with the Lord as life or death situations, for they truly are, whether or not we like to think of it that way or not!


“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents andinnocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death,  and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household."

(Matt 10.16-24)