Of carts and horses

Okay, it has been a while since I have posted to my blog. In fact, it has been so long that I have forgotten exactly how to do it! But I will muddle through somehow, with a little help from my friends.

What I want to talk about is the current political race. I am not so interested in candidates, but rather in the role of religion/Christianity in the race. There is a way in which I could care less about the candidates and the political process altogether. But when some candidates start using their religion and particularly Christianity as a marketing ploy and campaign tactic, I get not a little incensed. It would appear that religion and/or Christianity is little more than fodder for the cannons of political warfare, to be used here and there for effect, but which will actually go up in smoke when its nefarious job is over.

Such a cynical use and abuse of religion and/or Christianity [the two are NOT the same] is repulsive and in fact brings reproach on genuine Christian faith. Two political endorsements that illustrate this cynicism caught my eye, as the political races relate to religion. First, a dyed-in-the-wool religious fundamentalist [in the bad sense] reactionary institution, Bob Jones University, has endorsed Romney. [Surely the reader must know by now that Christians can only be Republican, right? :)] This endorsement is nothing less than stunning. That a so-called conservative premillenial, dispensational institution which believes in the Antichrist would turn and actually endorse the spirit of antichrist is mind-boggling. But that is exactly what has happened with that endorsement. Mormons do not believe that Jesus Christ is the savior of the world in the way that evangelical Christians do! Huckabee [I do not support him, if you want to know] was right on target when he asked, “Don’t they teach that Jesus and Satan are brothers?”

It was actually kind of humorous to me, frankly. Either Huckabee knew full well what he was saying or he was the worst studied pastor in the world. His question is nothing less than true. That is one of the lesser errors of Mormonism, however, though a very serious one indeed. Mormonism is polytheistic and denies the Trinitarian nature of God. Such a doctrine puts them completely outside the stream of Christianity and makes them a non-Christian sect, if not a cult [though many consider Mormonism just that, and Mormonism appears on many listings of cults on the Internet]. But even that would be just fine for a candidate, for I do not believe there should be any religious litmus test for running for the office of president; it is and ought to be open for Mormons. Let the Christians defeat them at the polls, not by smearing them with religious rhetoric and the politics of personal destruction that seems to have become part and parcel of the right wing Christian political movement. But for a so-called conservative evangelical protestant institution to endorse a polytheistic and heretical religionist is simply mind-boggling. In so doing, Bob Jones University repudiates just about every Christian tenet which they claim to believe.

The second endorsement that boggles the mind is that of Pat Robertson endorsing Rudy Guliani. That fits, eh? An evangelical Christian endorsing the non-evangelical, non-practicing, womanizing, adulterous Catholic with mob connections and business interests with the enemies of the United States! What it does, really, is call into question the integrity of Robertson and all the things he has preached and raved about for decades now. All those years of so-called preaching were thrown aside for the expediency of a political endorsement, which obviously was a play for some renewed political power that Robertson had lost over the years. – and that by being a complete nutty character! That being said, I suppose I should really not register such surprise, eh?

Also, a concern that I have is the way in which the misrepresentation of genuine Christianity by the right wing so-called evangelical Christians has given opportunity of every atheist and unbeliever to rail against the bitterness and hatred expressed by the “Christian” right. Daily I read about 15 newspapers and constantly read the letters and articles written by atheists [the New York Times, in my opinion, could be termed the Atheistic paper of America on the basis of the dominance of the atheists on its opinion pages]. The atheistic venom is constant and, sadly, often far more accurate about the counterfeit “Christianity” of the Christian right political movement than we like to admit. It is difficult for me to understand why anyone would believe, for instance that the pop psychologist James Dobson is a genuine Christian, for his views are so liberal [yes, you heard me right. He is conservative on social issues but liberal in reference to theology and religion] that there is little reason to believe that he is a regenerate believer. The same can be said of Tony Perkins, the leader of some kind of political lobby for evangelicals. These doctrinaire and bigoted partisan Republicans are driven by power needs, not by the Word of God. Anyone who claims to have been regenerated by God ought to repudiate these sleazy characters and return to the Word of God for their guidance. These are partisan political operatives, not ministers of the Gospel or likely not even Christians at all. Let’s face it: the homosexual Haggart was and is not a regenerate Christian; Jimmy Bakker was and is not a regenerate Christian; Benny Hinn is no regenerate Christian. Who believes that Charles Colson is a regenerate believer? These are all men who relish and do obeisance on the altar of power. Of all the fakers, perhaps because of his position, George Bush is the most recognizable likely unregenerate pseudo-Christian, a victim of Pentecostal decisional regeneration, as are most of the others [except the out and out pagans, who could care less about God except that god and religion make for a powerful marketing tool].

I have purposely been using the word “regenerate” to designate a true Christian convert. I have done so because the phrase “born again,” though certainly Biblical language, has been so misunderstood and tainted by the evangelical community that it no longer has its Biblical meaning. To them, being “born again” is an act of their own wills, a decision they have taken to “receive Christ into their hearts.” But true new birth is not an act of man’s will, a fact that is made crystal clear by the Word of God:

“So then it is not of him who wills or of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.” Romans 9:16.

“…who were born [those who believe, that is], not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

“But God, …even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, has quickened us together with Christ (by grace you are saved).”

What I am suggesting may seem revolutionary to some, but is absolutely elementary and rudimentary to Biblical Christianity. I am suggesting that the very notion of the new birth as understood in evangelical America is so far gone from the Biblical teaching that one can almost – almost – judge that anyone who claims to have been born again has misunderstood what it means to be “born of God” to the extent that they are not likely genuine believers who have been regenerated or born of God in the sense of Titus 3: 4-5:

“But when the kindness of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

Most all of those representing themselves as evangelical Christians are in fact those who are putting their trust in their decision to receive Christ for their salvation instead of having been saved by the “washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” They clearly have gotten the cart before the horse, and are sadly mistaken. Therefore, when they mix perverted politics with their unbelief, we get a poisonous mixture of perverted politics and perverted religion. That is the condition of the religious right in America. They in fact trust themselves [their own free will, to be more exact] for their salvation, and not the Lord Jesus Christ. In their jaundiced view of salvation, God just did what He owed them for being willing to accept Him. This is nothing less than salvation by works, which any self-respecting evangelical would reject out of hand if they knew at all what they were talking about. But most don’t.

Modern evangelicalism is a big mess. The 20th century was a dismal time for American Christianity. C.H. Spurgeon warned in the latter part of the 19th century of a coming “downgrade” in religion. We in the 20th century have witnessed the progress and ultimate end of that downgrade; the beggaring of religion. What passes for evangelicalism today is a sad shell of pretension, I dare say. Genuine faith can be found today, but one must, as the saying goes, sort through a lot of garbage to find it.

But sorting through the garbage is very difficult itself, since there is a profound ignorance of spiritual things in today’s world. If I talk of spiritual things, the natural minded fellow thinks I am talking about voodoo or something. To the modern carnal mind, for instance, something like the virgin birth seems a fairy tale. The reason is that they know nothing about our sin nature and depravity and the need for a spotless, sinless sacrifice to satisfy God’s justice and to make atonement for sin. If they had any notion of that, the virgin birth would not only become meaningful, but absolutely essential, for anyone born as the seed of Adam is unqualified to be Savior or the Lamb of God. When seen in true light, the story is not a fairy tale, but the actual account of man’s fall and need of a Savior, God’s justice and righteousness, reconciliation, and God’s gracious provision of a Savior for all whom by faith believe the Gospel. What to the carnal mind is silly nonsense is to the enlightened believer the very essence of love, faith and eternal life.

Why should we be surprised at this? The Bible tells us very clearly that this will be the very response we will get from an unregenerate mind. Here is what the Bible says of the carnal [meaning natural, unregenerate, un-renewed, un-quickened] mind as it considers the facts of Gospel of Christ:

“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

There it is in stark relief; the natural mind, unregenerated by the Spirit of Christ, thinks the things of God and of Christ and of the Bible are “foolishness.” Further, the same text asserts that the natural, unregenerate mind “cannot” know spiritual things, for such spiritual things are “spiritually discerned.” Put in plain language, many of the people claiming to be Christians are in fact in the condition of a carnal mind and simply cannot discern spiritual truth. Think though they might, study though they might, there is no way under the sun that they can arrive at a spiritual thought because such things are spiritually discerned, ergo, one must first be made spiritual before one can discern spiritual things. Jesus said it in another way: “Except a man be born again, he cannot see [or enter into] the kingdom of God.”

What Jesus was NOT talking about was a decision of the human will to “receive Jesus into your heart.” What He was telling Nicodemus was that it is God Himself who determines who will receive the regenerating work of the Spirit [the new birth]. The Apostle Paul put it this way:

“For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him who calls, it was said to her, ‘The older shall serve the younger.’ As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau I have hated.”

Jesus was even blunter with his words:

“Do no murmur among yourselves. No man can come to me except the Father who sent me draw him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

The great majority of all people today claiming to know Christ as Savior have it entirely backwards, it seems. They have the cart before the horse. They are putting their will and their acts of obedience before God’s acts of saving, thus in essence saving themselves, with God being just the compliant gift giver of salvation to those who are wise enough and good enough to seek him. The bottom line is, if this be true, that they themselves have saved themselves by an act of their will to receive Christ. In fact, theologians have coined a name for this error; decisional regeneration. It is they who give God permission to save them, for as one free will preacher I heard said, “God can’t save you without your permission. God would never force you to be saved against your will.”

Well, there is a way in which that is true and a way in which it is totally false. If by that one mean that it is human will that finally determines who is saved, then it is totally false. If you mean by that that God changes the will of man in such a saving way that the man wants and desires Jesus Christ, then that is very true. Man is never saved against his will; God just makes him willing. Again, the bottom line is that it is God who saves; it is God who enables man to repent and believe, and not man himself. Indeed, the very faith through which man appropriates salvation is by grace, a gift from God.

There is a sobering truth, though, that every person who believes that he is saved or a believer because he or she “accepted Christ” ought to realize. It is a Scriptural truth that blows the top off the claims of many Christians. “There is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God.” Yet the very essence of many people’s claim to be Christian is that they were seeking God! That ought to give all those who confess to be Christians pause, and cause them to reconsider their true spiritual state, and to “make sure your election and calling.”

In summary, I really don’t care about the political races in themselves. But I do care how our precious Christian faith is distorted and abused and made to serve as marketing material for the sake of political campaigns. It is high time to put these folks to the true test of the Word of God. Let’s start asking the hard questions.

Coming later: Can there be true morality outside the Christian faith like some secularists and atheists say?

I'm baaaaaack! -Redux

Wow, what a journey it has been! It is with gratefulness that I return here to post again. This has been one difficult year for me, suffering another heart attack and spending more time than I like in the hospital, medical facilities, rehab programs, and the like.

But God has been merciful to this sinner, and so I return rejoicing at His great grace to me. I have decided to take up posting to my own blog here and to our church website at www.spurgeonheritage.org. I had thought that I might go back to the Theology List and contribute, but for the time being I will rest content to do some stuff here on the blog.

For my friends I will review a little of what has been happening in my life. This is not one of those annual letters that people send out at the Christmas season, but just a bit of summary of why I have been somewhat absent from the world for a time.

Wintertime is very difficult for me, with my heart condition and all. So each winter we face the winter weather with some fear and trepidation, recognizing that over the last several years I have experienced strokes and heart attacks during the months of December, January and February.
In the fall of 2006, my health was already falling off and I was struggling to keep up with my duties and responsibilities. I was limited in what I could do physically and chose to concentrate on ministry and preaching, leaving all my writing and other activities [like bowling, golfing, fishing, etc] to be resumed later, if God willed.

My doctor decided to send me back to cardiac rehab, even though I had “graduated” earlier. So I began working to restore some health to my heart. It was during this time [March-April, 2007] that I was having much physical distress and heart pains. My doctor was doing what he thought was right for me, and ordered a sleep lab, after which I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. We had problems getting the report from the sleep lab and thus could not get the C-PAP apparatus as soon as would have been desirable.

In fact, before we could get it, I took a trip down to Illinois to visit my grandsons, and to spend a few days with them. On the very day we set out to go, I had an appointment with my cardiologist. As I was sitting on the examination table, I reported to the nurse that I was having chest and back pains and was fearful that I was having a heart attack right there in his office. She quickly went out and reported to the doctor, but he came back in and made light of my concerns. So I left and went to Illinois. I fought serious pains the entire time while there and was unable to sleep but for short stretches of time, measured in minutes rather than hours. And I kept feeling worse and worse as the time went on.

We returned to Holland on Saturday and we had our regular services on Sunday. I could hardly stand and was enduring almost constant pain. On Monday morning, 9:30, I was scheduled to work out at cardiac rehab there at the hospital. When I arrived, I was in serious pain and was quite irritable. The head nurse there [Cheryl is her name, and she is an angel to me] knew intuitively that I was not my usual jovial, joking, smart-alec self, so she would not allow me to exercise and took me down to the ER. There I was diagnosed as having suffered a heart attack some hours before. I personally suspect it was back in the cardiologist’s office, actually.

Well, I seemed to recover some, but this one left me far weaker than what I had experienced in the past. The doctor told me that one of my bypasses had blocked off, causing the attack. He indicated that there did not seem to be anything that he could do, and that there were “no targets for revascularization.” In simple terms, he was saying that it was impossible to do any more bypasses. His advice and medical plan for me was that I should complete an advance directive of DNR [that’s Do Not Resuscitate, if you are unfamiliar with the nomenclature]. Nice medical plan, eh?  In plain language, he was saying that if the guy has another heart attack, let the old boy die!

Mind you, I am not at all afraid of dying. Indeed, as the Apostle Paul put it, “to die is gain.” But I was not at all convinced that I should give up the ghost that easily or without at least a second opinion. So I sought a second opinion from Prairie Cardiovascular Center in Springfield, IL, who had done my original bypass surgery. They were confident that the DNR “plan” of action [or inaction, more accurately] was unwarranted and that they felt there were other interventions that were not so dire. Long story short, I underwent two procedures to unblock some old arteries, but both procedures were unsuccessful. The cardiologist at Prairie was quite disappointed in himself and seemed far more discouraged than I. But he still felt that there was hope and that there were other interventions that might be warranted. With that thought, I returned home to Holland, MI.

Since that time, I have once again graduated from Phase 2 cardiac rehab. But as the summer wore on and winter time approached, I became again concerned that things were not going well. This time, I self-referred myself to cardiac rehab, phase three, and am still busy at that. There has been some good progress, and I am feeling fairly well at this time, though I am certainly not back to “normal.” I am back to bowling and fishing, but other than those activities I am pretty limited.

So, here I am, back again, hoping that I can recover and still contribute something to this life. So far I have not had to curtail much of my ministry, and have only missed a few Wednesday evening sessions and not a single Sunday service, no matter how serious my problems have been. For this I am very thankful to God for His mercy to me.

As if this were not enough, my dear wife Bev underwent hip replacement after several years of debilitating pain and discomfort in that hip. She is home recovering quickly and we are hopeful that both of us will resume something akin to normal life soon.

I wish to thank those of you who prayed for us during our travail. We would covet your continued prayers, actually. We have many, many friends across the nation and even around the world, and we are thankful for their shared fellowship in Jesus Christ. Their love and prayers have made our tribulation more tolerable and even joyful.

It is good to be back. Drop us a line if you can and visit our church website, which I am about to update soon.