Men of Virtue, Not Headlines

Men of Virtue, Not Headlines

Hey Christian men, how many times have you read the headlines about people getting caught in prostitution stings? Or how many times do you read about another couple getting a divorce? And let’s not leave out porn addiction or adults who are messing with children.

Shocking Headlines

Headlines of destruction are rampant!

Then there’s those who are verbally or physically abusive. Or what about all the individuals who are caught in lies or doing unethical things? We see them all the time don’t we?! It seems like every single day another person gets caught in something—and lets us down.

We see this everyday, and so do the young people in the church.

And let’s not kid ourselves into thinking those sins only happen with Hollywood celebrities or politicians. We all recognize it’s happening in the church as well. And men who were once well-loved and respected preachers, elders, youth ministers, or deacons suddenly cause young people to question everything.

What the church desperately needs today are spiritually mature men who are not giving into temptation—men who can serve as role models and mentor young Christians.

We need men who love their wives and children more than hobbies.

We need men who lead and don’t deceive.

We need men who younger boys can look up to and not have their world come crashing down because of a scandal.

We need men who will boldly lead the next generation to Jesus.

Aren’t you tired of all the discouraging news headlines? Why not determine within yourself to make a difference. Why not be someone who stands out and is not conformed to the world? Why not reflect a sacrificial life of taking up your cross and following Him? Why not use your life as a positive example, so that God may be glorified!

Make no doubt about it, Satan will come hard after you. But God will give you a means of escape. Let’s show the next generation what it means to flee temptation. Let’s be the role models they desperately need today!

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The Covenant After 70 AD?

The Covenant After 70 AD?

Proponents of the 70 AD doctrine claim that everything in association with the final coming of Christ happened in AD70 with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem.   The destruction of the temple marks a change in the gospel covenant.  Let me illustrate this with the following verse of scripture:

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”  25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”  26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. (NASU)

covenant change

Did the covenant change in 70AD?

Paul instructed the Corinthian church to observe the Lord’s supper until He comes.  If Jesus came in 70 AD the proponents of the 70 AD doctrine claim, the Corinthians, and all other Christians by extension, were to cease observing the Lord’s supper upon His coming.  We have by consequence of this doctrine entered an age where God’s covenant has changed from what it was.  A change of worship to God constitutes a change of covenant if you will.   If Jesus came in 70 AD, we have another covenant period following the period of time that existed between the cross and the destruction of Jerusalem.  The problem with this is, as a consequence of the 70 AD doctrine, all of the New Testament writings pertain to a covenant that would end in 70 AD with no instructions for how to serve God afterwards.  The time between the cross and the destruction of the temple would therefore have a following covenant under which Christianity would exist with worship that was altered from the original.

In every instance in history, when the worship to God changed, so did the covenant.   The first age would be the Patriarchal dispensation / age / period of time, where God dealt directly with individuals with a covenant specific to that age.  Then we have the Mosaic covenant under which Levitical worship continued unchanged until the cross.   Jesus’ death on the cross would then mark the time when there was a change of the law, (Hebrews 7:12 ; 9:15).  And so the 70 AD advocates would, as a consequence of their doctrine, have a period of time between the death of Jesus and the destruction of the temple with a worship system unique to that time period.  Moreover, another consequence of their doctrine is that all the instructions for living the Christian life available are specific to that period of time between the cross and the destruction of the temple.  70 D advocates are inserting a different covenant into the equation with their doctrine.

This poses an immediate problem with scriptures that explicitly state that the age under which they were living would be the last one.  Each age or period of time had its own covenant.

1 John 2:18, “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.”  The NASB translates this as the last hour.  However, the KJV translation of it as the “last time” is perfectly consistent with Hebrews 1:1-3 which states, “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. “ and again in 1 Peter 1:20-21which states, “For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you 21 who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. “ (NASU)

It is a necessary consequence of the 70 AD doctrine that places a unique time period between the cross and the destruction of the temple in direct conflict with inspired writings that plainly teach us that there is not.   If there exists a covenant age beyond the destruction of the temple, then all the inspired scriptures declaring them to be in the last age, or last time as it is written, cannot be true.

If there was a change of covenant, then how did it happen?  How are we to worship under this different covenant?  Clearly commemorating the Lord’s death is not a part of it.  Other than that, we have no instructions whatsoever for how we are to meet the terms of this different covenant.  God would not change the  Christian covenant without providing the terms under which He has obligated Himself to meet its conditions.

Because of the implications of these statements regarding the ‘last time’ within the inspired text, the very fact that Christians exist and are worshipping God beyond 70 AD biblically proves the age after 70 AD is the same as the age before.  There was therefore no actual covenant change that occurred in 70 AD and the doctrine cannot stand.

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UN LLAMADO A LA RACIONALIDAD

UN LLAMADO A LA RACIONALIDAD

La racionalidad puede ser definida como las conclusiones que pueden ser sostenidas por las evidencias. Muchos han tildado al Dios de la Biblia y el cristianismo como irracionales ya que según ellos no existe evidencia fuerte para concluir que un ser supremo exista y por otro lado vivir bajo el estándar del mismo. Si pudiéramos presentar la evidencia para ambos (esto es el cristianismo y la existencia de Dios) entonces la categoría de “irracionales” no estaría sobre nosotros sino sobre aquellos que se rehúsan a aceptar la evidencia.

rationalidad

UN LLAMADO A LA RACIONALIDAD

Recientemente me vi envuelto con una persona que afirmaba que las iglesias que no tengan apóstoles (modernos) no están siguiendo el plan de Dios al establecer 5 ministerios. Le mostré con calma el contexto en el que Ef.5 toma lugar y en adición a eso lo llevé para que observará los requisitos para el apostolado establecidos por Pedro en Hechos 1 en el momento de la elección del sucesor de Judas y como se vuelve imposible que un ser humano cumpla con estos requisitos hoy. Esta persona en  cuestión decidió abandonar la racionalidad y arremetió contra Pedro, aludiendo a que Pedro no era nadie para hablar y firmar una base ya que había negado al Señor. Yo estaba manejando y por poco salgo del camino al escuchar semejante desacierto en intento pobre de defensa contra la evidencia firme con la cual había colisionado de frente.

Ser racional tiene que ver con razonar correctamente. Es probable que en una gran mayoría las personas tengan pereza de analizar y razonar correctamente. En lógica los silogismos siempre son herramientas útiles para llegar a la verdad. Existen silogismos simples y también compuestos. Considero que un silogismo sano (aquel que está bien construido y cuyas premisas son verdaderas) una vez establecido como tal es un poderoso escudo, con la capacidad de ser impenetrable. A manera de ejemplo simple considere:

1.     Los martes llueve por la tarde.

2.     Hoy es martes.

3.     Por lo tanto, hoy lloverá.

Observe cómo alguien es racional al concluir correctamente partiendo de las premisas o evidencias que se encuentran disponibles. La racionalidad es fundamental en todos los círculos de la vida y con mucha más razón debería de serlo en aspectos de la fe.

Uno de los problemas principales es ignorar la enseñanza implícita y tratar de validar únicamente aquello que está explícito. Dios realmente desea que nosotros reunamos evidencias y razones a partir de esas evidencias (1Tes.5:21; Hech.17:11; Is.1:17). Aquellos que se hacen llamar evangélicos, aluden a la presencia del Espíritu Santo en la obra de milagros, sensacionalismo e intervención directa en sus vidas. Por lo que en el círculo filosófico a esto se le conoce como “Fideísmo” donde se alude a tomar un salto de fe y creer algunas cosas de las cuales no existe evidencia. Existen pasajes explícitos que hablan de tener al Espíritu y que él mismo obraba milagros en el siglo primero. Implícitamente se enseña que esa obra directa del Espíritu tenía un periodo explícito y un propósito específico (Jn.16:13). Ignorar la evidencia implícita sería irracional. De hecho es el Filósofo Cristiano Thomas B. Warren quien define de forma clara lo que es ser irracional. Él escribe en su libro “Logic and the Bible” lo siguiente:

“Todo hombre que arrogantemente rechace el uso de lógica (válida) en conexión con el estudio de la Biblia, parece no reconocer que están obrando de forma irracional. Y ¿Qué es ser irracional? Es (1) rechazar el adecuado rol de la evidencia, razón y conclusión y (2) sostener que la voluntad de Dios para el hombre hoy solamente se puede leer mediante declaraciones explícitas de la Biblia sin tener que razonar correctamente a través de esos declaraciones explícitas hasta correctamente inferir aquello que está implícito”.

El estudio de la Biblia debe de ser realizado con extremo cuidado, en oración y de forma sistemática. No todo en la escritura que está de forma implícita se aplica a nosotros hoy en día.

Siendo racionales con la cuestión del Espíritu Santo y la supuesta manifestación en nuestros días debemos llegar a conclusiones que únicamente son extraídas de la evidencia presente. Considere con migo:

1.     El Espíritu Santo obró de formas sobrenaturales durante la infancia de la Iglesia

2.     No vivimos en el periodo de la infancia de la Iglesia.

3.     Por tanto el Espíritu, en nuestros días no obra de igual forma.

Recuerde que si las dos premisas son verdaderas y la conclusión lógica es extraída de la misma, entonces no hay forma de ser irracional. El ser racional se vuelve vital ya que conocer toda la verdad (explícitamente como implícitamente) es lo que libera al hombre del pecado y del error (Jn. 8:32). Todo lo que Dios enseña implícitamente es igual de autoritario como aquello explícito. Se requiere que realmente el hombre sea sincero consigo mismo y con Dios en la búsqueda de la verdad.

Deseo retar a cualquier hombre que sostiene que la Biblia contiene pasajes  explícitos puestos ahí para mi, para usted o para cualquier ser humano que viva en este momento. Para determinar lo que el hombre de hoy debe de hacer para agradar a Dios de las cosas enseñadas en la Biblia, uno debe de inferir de la Biblia aquellas cosas que han sido expuestas explícitamente. El verdadero cristianismo no depende de un fideísmo ciego o un “salto al vacío”. La fe verdadera es la obediencia a las cosas de las cuales podemos razonar de forma implícita como explícita, a los mandamientos de Dios. Recuerde en todo momento que si algo es irracional no pertenece a Dios. Tal como lo afirma Hebreos 5:14 en la segunda parte, deberíamos de tener los sentidos ejercitados y que mejor manera haciendo uso de la racionalidad. Que Dios nos ayude a todos a ambas cosas: tanto a reconocer la ley de la racionalidad así como a honrarla.

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The Addiction of Success

The Addiction of Success

The false philosophy of pragmatism states “If it works, it must be right.” This philosophy rewards success above all other things. People like success because it makes them feel good about themselves. It makes them feel like they have accomplished something. This feeling, however, is at the root of works-based salvation, and it is contradictory to the Christian doctrine of salvation by grace. “Success” is not the standard for right and wrong, nor will it lead us to salvation, for what is “successful” in the eyes of men is not as far as God is concerned.

success standard

Success is not the standard for right and wrong.

Jesus said this, “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do” (Luke 17:10). This may be a hard teaching to accept for someone who is trying to work his way to heaven, but it is liberating for those who believe and love the truth. In other words, Christians who are faithful to the Lord need not seek to conform to the worlds’ standards of success. One may be a faithful Christian without having made one significant worldly accomplishment. One need not make a million dollars before he is thirty years old. One need not travel across the globe to become famous. One need not be educated by the world’s standards. We are free from such carnal expectations!

Success is addictive. Once you get a taste, you want more, and it will suck away your life until it is gone. Jesus said, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth . . . But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven . . . For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).

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The Debt We Owe Paul

The Debt We Owe Paul

When one reads Paul’s words to the Gentile church in Colossae, he has a renewed appreciation for the work that Paul did and just how important it was that Gentiles become equal members with the Jews in the church Jesus established. Take time to read the closing verses of chapter one to see how Paul viewed his place in the kingdom. These same verses show the way all of us should see our place in the kingdom.paul debt

Paul saw himself as a minister of Christ who had been entrusted with a stewardship of the gospel to take the gospel to the lost (verse 25). When the church met in Jerusalem to discuss circumcision (Acts 15), the end result was that they “…saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me (i.e., Paul), as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter” (Gal. 2:7). Paul devoted the rest of his life to establish the church in Gentile cities.

Paul saw that completion of his work would fully reveal that the mystery of the gospel, hidden for many generations, and would take the riches of that gospel to the Gentiles (verses 26-27). Paul was chosen by God to be the one whose work focused on getting the message to the Gentiles. When the church began, it at first did not see the gospel was for every creature. Paul’s work showed how wrong they were.

Paul saw that it was God’s will “…to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles” (v. 27). Under the Old Testament the Gentiles were described as being “…strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope” (Eph. 2:12). Look at these verses in Colossians to see how all of this changed. “Christ in in you, the hope of glory.”

Paul saw his work as preaching Christ, “warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom” (v. 28). The end result was “…that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (v. 28).

What does this have to do with those who are members of the church at Palm Beach Lakes? Had the early church failed to realize that Gentiles were to be part of God’s family, we would still be without hope, without Christ and separated from the promises God made. Paul did his work and now all men see that heaven’s plans include us!

One other matter. Do we not also share in Paul’s work of getting the hope of the gospel of Christ to all men? Is it not also our ministry to preach Christ, to warn every man and to teach them in wisdom? Are we not, in this respect, like Paul and our task to take the gospel into our world, and to do all we can to present every man look like Jesus, to be perfect in Christ? Paul did his work—let’s do ours!

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