A People for His Name

Ten Points about Personal Revival; New Song

February 22, 2012

In January, I read through Psalms in 16 days without having any idea that I would be having an opportunity to minister in February on the topic of personal revival. After I found out that this was to be the topic of my message for an upcoming men’s meeting, it became clear to me why God had directed me to be immersed in Psalms: at least as much as any other book of Scripture, Psalms is the book of personal revival.

To prepare for my upcoming time of ministry, I have been reading through the book of Psalms for the second time this year as well as studying other key passages. (I plan to finish reading Psalms at least by the morning before I speak.)

Here are ten points that I plan to treat about personal revival:

An earnest desire and longing for God is necessary for revival to come to a person.
Because revival is the work of God in His people, we must pray fervently for Him to revive us.
When God revives His people, they are satisfied with His goodness and His mercy, and therefore they rejoice in Him and are glad all their days. They bless and praise Him while they have life.
A humble and contrite repentance of sin is essential for revival to come to God’s people; there must be a turning away from all idolatry, conformity to the world, and fellowship with the works of darkness.
Delighting supremely in God’s Word is central to being revived and is a hallmark of a person who is experiencing revival.
Loving righteousness and hating iniquity are essential for revival.
Revival is the fruit of the fullness of the Spirit whom God gives to those who love righteousness and hate iniquity.
A vital relationship to God’s house, day, and leaders is necessary for revival.
Revival will be a glorious worldwide reality in the millennial kingdom.
An unwavering resolve to be a revived people while we await His coming is needed greatly in our day.

Last weekend, God also gave me new music for singing a key passage about revival (Psalm 63:1-2). I look forward to how God will use both my message, Ten Points about Personal Revival, and my song, O God, Thou Art My God!

In Interpretation, Ministry, Preaching, Theology

Saved From a Scammer!

February 20, 2012

I praise God that He spared me today from being potentially scammed for a large amount of money. I hope that this testimony may somehow be used to spare someone else from falling prey in a similar way.

A few weeks ago, I posted an ad online for tutoring. I was encouraged to receive two replies the very next morning after posting the ad. The first reply went nowhere, but the second seemed promising.

I followed up on the second one and engaged in a series of e-mails with this prospective client. Supposedly, this client was a person coming from overseas to be in Greenville for a month. During that time, he wanted me to tutor his daughter in Algebra.

He said that he wanted many hours of tutoring each week. Because I had been praying for God to meet an upcoming financial obligation, I was thinking that this was His provision. I rejoiced in thinking how He seemingly had answered my prayer so directly.

As things progressed, he informed me that he would be sending me a check to pay for all the tutoring in advance. He asked how much I would charge and agreed to that amount.

Soon afterward, however, he sent a message telling me that he had made a mistake in making out the check. He said that he had mistakenly written one check instead of the two that he was supposed to have written, one to me and one to someone else.

He then told me that I was to deposit the check upon receiving it, take out the amount agreed upon for my tutoring, and then send the rest by Western Union to another party. Upon receiving this information, I was convinced that this was a scam and informed him that he needed to repent of his sin.

Thinking that this matter was finished, I was shocked to receive yet another e-mail from him today that told me that he had sent a check to me by Federal Express and that I would be receiving it today. He even gave me a tracking number to check. I did so and discovered that the check had already arrived this morning and was waiting for me when I would return from work in the afternoon.

Examining the check, which was more than five times the amount that we had agreed upon for my tutoring, I was appalled at the wickedness of this party. I was also grateful that God had given me helpful input from trusted friends that confirmed to me that this was a scam.

I took the check to my bank, and they assured me that it was a phony check. They recommended that I take it to a local branch of the same bank that issued the check. I did so, and they confirmed that it was indeed a fraudulent check.

Had the circumstances been slightly different, I might have lost a lot of money to this scam. Having never dealt with such a situation before, I find it revolting that there are people out there who prey on others in this way.

Praise God for His mercy in saving me from this scammer!

In Testimony

Paul's Emphasis to the Saved and the Unsaved

February 18, 2012

Reading through Philippians this morning, I was again struck with Paul’s teaching to the Philippians about his mindset: “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead” (3:10-11). All too often this teaching is reduced so that Paul’s focus is made out to be that of just knowing Christ.

Such reduction does not account for what Paul himself here teaches that he was seeking to attain by any means–the resurrection of the dead! As this passage actually reads, the statements about knowing Christ, etc., are on the way to Paul’s attaining the resurrection of the dead. He thus emphasized in his teaching to believers that attaining bodily resurrection was a paramount motivation for him.

Other passages show that Paul also testified to unbelievers that he had this same focus:

“But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question” (Acts 23:6).

“But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets: And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men” (Acts 24:14-16).

From this Scriptural data, we learn that Paul stressed to both the saved and the unsaved that he was profoundly oriented in his mindset toward the truth of the resurrection of the dead. We would do well likewise to focus both our own attention and the attention of all to whom we minister–both unbelievers and believers alike–on this central teaching of Scripture.

In Discipleship, Exhortation

Chromatic Scale

February 16, 2012

Learning the chromatic scale is a good way to start learning to play the guitar. I recently came up with this new handout to teach it.

In Guitar Music

God Wants You to Be Saved!

February 14, 2012

Acts 10 provides us with the wonderful account of how Cornelius, an exemplary man, was saved. The glorious content of this passage reveals three key truths about how God also wants you to be saved!

I. God wants you to be saved by accepting the fact that you need to be saved, even as Cornelius did through the message that the angel gave to him.

Despite his being devout, fearing God with his entire household, giving much alms to the people, praying to God always, being just, having a good report among all the nation of the Jews, and having some previous knowledge about Jesus, Cornelius was not saved. Neither was he saved simply by having a genuine supernatural experience with a true angel of God, who informed him that his prayers had been heard and his alms had been remembered by God.

He, therefore, was not saved even though he was an exemplary man in so many respects. Moreover, even the genuineness of his religious activities and of his supernatural experience did not save him.

Every person must likewise come to the point that he accepts that he is not saved despite however good of a life he may have led. He must also recognize that no mere supernatural experience that he might have can save him, even if it were to be genuine.

II. God wants you to be saved by accepting that the only way you will be saved is by hearing the words by which you will be saved, even as Cornelius did.

The angel that Cornelius encountered informed him that he would have to hear the words by which he would be saved. He thus had to accept that the only way that he could be saved was through his hearing those words.

Every person must likewise come to the point that he accepts that simply being genuinely religious will not save him. To be saved, he must hear the words by which he will be saved.

III. God wants you to be saved by having your sins forgiven through your responding properly to the words by which you will be saved, even as Cornelius did.

Through Peter’s preaching the gospel to him, Cornelius heard the words by which he would be saved. In a nutshell, Cornelius heard that through the Lord Jesus Christ he had to believe in God, that raised Jesus from the dead and gave Him glory, so that his faith and hope might be in God (1 Pet. 1:21).

Cornelius was saved through his receiving the forgiveness of his sins by responding to the gospel message with repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ. Every person must likewise be saved by receiving forgiveness of his sins by responding to the gospel with repentance toward God and belief in Jesus Christ to be saved.

Have you accepted that you need to be saved?

Have you accepted that the only way that you will be saved is by hearing the gospel, the words by which you will be saved?

Have you received the forgiveness of your sins by hearing the gospel, repenting toward God, and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ? (To learn more about the gospel, please see my post, The Gospel of God and His Christ.)

God wants you to be saved by doing so! He wants you to be saved from the eternal punishment that awaits those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thess. 1:8).

In behalf of Christ, I beseech you to turn to God and be saved before it is too late.

In Evangelism, Exhortation, Gospel

Questions to Ponder about the Baptism of Believers That Took Place at Pentecost

February 11, 2012

Pentecost took place before Paul had written any of his teaching about baptism in Romans, Galatians, 1 Corinthians, or any of his other books. In fact, it took place some time before he was even saved.

When, therefore, after his message at Pentecost, Peter responded to his hearers’ question about what they should do (Acts 2:37) by saying, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (2:38), what baptism did he have in mind and what was his understanding of its significance?

Moreover, what understanding of baptism and its significance did those people have who heard his word, gladly received it, and were baptized (2:41)?

If these who were baptized were given the truths by Peter (as perhaps part of the information that 2:40 summarizes) that Paul teaches in Romans 6, Galatians 3, etc., then what Paul wrote many years after Pentecost in those passages was not new essential revelation to the Church at large about the fundamental significance of baptism. On the other hand, if what he wrote there was new essential revelation about the fundamental significance of baptism, then how were these who believed and were baptized at Pentecost baptized without that information?

Scripture provides no hint that these who were baptized at Pentecost had an incomplete understanding of anything essential about the importance and significance of baptism. Nor does it say anything about a vast number of believers being re-baptized once Paul came on the scene and wrote what he did in his Epistles about baptism (e.g., Romans 6). What, therefore, should we conclude about the importance of giving the Pauline epistolary teaching on baptism that we now have to new believers in our day prior to their being baptized?

Peter preached that those who would repent and be baptized would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (2:38). Incredibly, Luke, however, does not say that those who gladly received his word received the Spirit. Instead, he only comments that they were baptized and added to those who were already believers prior to Pentecost (2:41). Why does Luke not say anything about their receiving the Spirit in relation to their being baptized after having received the message?

In Interpretation, Theology

Playing Hymns in Four Parts on the Guitar!

February 9, 2012

For several years, I have been working on developing a new guitar method that trains students to be able to play hymns in multiple parts straight from a hymnbook. This week, I had an exciting breakthrough in my own playing that reinforced to me the value of this approach for Christian musicians who want to use the guitar for ministry.

While practicing playing several hymns in two parts, I decided to try playing the SAT for Grace Greater Than Ours Sins. Encouraged by how well I was able to read all three parts and play them on the guitar, I decided to try playing all four parts of the song.

To my great delight, I was able to play measure after measure of the song! Although I played it much slower than it would be sung, just being able to make it through all 32 measures and play every note exactly where it would be sung or played on a piano was a huge encouragement and confirmation of the usefulness of this method.

I praise God for answering my prayers for enabling me to develop a method that should be able to train highly skilled guitarists who want to glorify God by playing hymns in multiple parts in church services!

In Guitar Music, Music, Testimony

A New Insight about "Jesus of Nazareth"

February 6, 2012

Recently, I began reading the Gospel of Luke again, a book which I have read at least 25 times through in the past. In spite of having read the book so many previous times, I understood something interesting this time that I have never seen before and do not remember anyone else ever talking about either.

Luke records the angel Gabriel’s being sent to Mary: “And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary” (1:26). Following this statement, he relates Gabriel’s interaction with her about his message to her about her conceiving and bearing Jesus (1:28-38).

Next, he writes of Mary’s trip to visit Elizabeth and stay with her for about three months before returning home (1:39-56). Noteworthy in this account is Luke’s relating that upon hearing Mary’s salutation, the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaped, and she was filled with the Spirit (1:41).

Elizabeth then exclaimed loudly, “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (1:42-43). These verses show that Elizabeth knew that Mary had already conceived Jesus before she had come to her.

Based on Luke’s informing us that Gabriel came to Mary in Nazareth before she had conceived (1:26) and the flow of thought from that scene (1:26-38) to the immediately following account of her coming as an expectant mother to the unnamed city where Elizabeth was (1:39ff.), we are to understand that Mary was in Nazareth when Jesus was conceived. When, therefore, we read of Jesus referred to as Jesus of Nazareth, we should understand that it signifies not just that He grew up there (cf. 2:39-51), as a number of sources explain,* but also that Nazareth was where He was conceived!

———————————————————–

*For example, the New Bible Dictionary entry for Nazareth states, “A town of Galilee where Joseph and Mary lived, and the home of Jesus for about 30 years until he was rejected (Lk. 2:39; 4:16; 28-31). He was therefore called Jesus of Nazareth” (819; bold added). The article on Nazareth in the Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible notes, “Though Jesus was often identified by his boyhood city as ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ (see Mk 10:47; Jn 18:57; Acts 2:22), the NT records only one subsequent visit by Jesus to Nazareth” (2:1531; bold added). Other sources similarly do not mention in their entries for Nazareth that Jesus was conceived in Nazareth (Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, 951; The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, 4:240-41).

In Interpretation

Ten Things to Pray For Concerning the Super Bowl

February 4, 2012

The Super Bowl is scheduled to be played tomorrow evening. Many believers will intentionally pay as little attention as possible to it, and some may decry those believers who have any level of interest in the game.

Many other believers will pay attention to the game in various ways. Given that the game will be played barring some remarkable and unexpected providential intervention by God, here are some things that interested believers might consider praying for:

1. God would glorify Himself in an unmistakable way through whatever He allows to take place before, during, and after the game.

2. The number of believers who forsake the assembling of themselves together tomorrow would be amazingly small because of a supernatural working of God at a remarkable level to convince His people not to do so.

3. Success for whatever evangelistic efforts may be made by believers through commercials aired during the game or through attending the game or planning to be present somewhere near the stadium for that purpose.

4. The players would do no evil. It would be great to have a clean game where there are no dirty plays, especially plays that injure players unnecessarily.

5. The officials would have skill to officiate fairly and not miss any calls. It would be especially great if the game were not to be decided by a questionable call by the officials.

6. The team that wins would do so because they have striven lawfully.

7. Both teams would display excellent sportsmanship in everything that takes place.

8. The fans would not do anything to disrupt the game.

9. There would not be any tragic things take place among the fans such as have marred many major sporting events over the years

10. Law enforcement personnel would be supernaturally empowered to have great success in delivering a great number of the victims of the human trafficking that is expected to take place surrounding this event.

Who knows what God might do tomorrow if many of His people were to pray fervently along these lines!

In Prayer

Questions for Conservative American Christians to Ponder about Presidential Politics

February 1, 2012

As a fairly recent newcomer to American presidential politics, I have been pondering the very difficult challenges that our current political situation poses. Here are some thoughts that have come to me recently as I have been prayerfully trying to discern how God would have us to approach answering some important questions.

1. Had there been news polls at the time of Saul, David, and Goliath, what would they have said about David’s chances of beating Goliath?

2. Suppose that at that time there had been an 8-foot tall former Philistine warrior who nominally became pro-Israel and engaged in occasional worship of Jehovah but not in the same way as the Israelites did. This Philistine is an arms producer and decides to volunteer himself to go up for Israel against Goliath. Would the polls not have ranked him much higher than David? If so, would the establishment leaders in Israel not have clamored for him to be the Israelite’s choice to go up against Goliath instead of the comparatively speaking puny David?

3. Ephesians 2 teaches that the children of disobedience are being energized by the prince of the power of the air. Should the righteous support such presidential candidates as the ones who would best advance the kingdom of God and His righteousness in the US and the world because the polls say that they would fare best against the opposing parties’ candidates?

4. Just how exactly does the Bible itself teach us to vote for the lesser of two evils?

5. Does the Bible teach us that the character of a presidential candidate does not matter that much in view of other supposedly more important considerations because we are voting for a president and not for a preacher?

6. Is there not a God in heaven who can turn the hearts of the “precious” moderates to support a righteous candidate for president so that we do not have to settle again for a candidate that we have to tolerate because the polls say that he is the only one who can win?

In Discipleship, Interpretation, Theology

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