A People for His Name

Why Leading Civil Authorities Should Not Drink Alcohol

November 18, 2017

Scripture warns high-level civil authorities not to consume alcohol because it puts them at risk of failing to fulfill one of their key responsibilities:

Proverbs 31:4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: 5 Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.

Only God knows how much justice for afflicted people has been perverted by leading civil authorities who have not heeded this divine instruction. If you are a leading civil authority over people, you should not drink alcohol so that you can faithfully provide justice to afflicted people.

In Discipleship, Theology

In Appreciation for Our Faithful Veterans on Veterans Day

November 11, 2017

Praise God for all those who have faithfully served our country in our armed forces in any capacity! Thank you for your service to us all. May God prosper all our veterans with grace to do His will for their lives.

In Prayer

Should Christians Use Good Music from Ungodly Sources?

November 9, 2017

Balaam professed that the Lord was his God (Num. 22:18). Yet, both Testaments record that he was a wicked man who harmed God’s people greatly (Num. 31:16; Rev. 2:14).

God gave profound authentic revelation about the Messiah through him (Num. 24:15-19). God has even inscripturated that revelation for all time in the Bible.

Theologians have rightly used the authentic revelation given by God through Balaam in spite of his wickedness. We can and should learn doctrine and edify one another through the recorded oracles of Balaam that God has given to us in Scripture.

Similarly, God’s people have used songs or musical pieces that accurately convey truth about God even though they have been written by otherwise perverse people.

Given that the former practice (using divine revelation given through Balaam) is indisputably proper, are there any valid reasons to hold that it is improper for us to use good music that has been produced by ungodly sources? Should Christians use good music from ungodly sources?

In CCM, Discipleship, Theology

“Marriage of God’s Making”

November 2, 2017

Understanding what the Bible teaches about marriage is a crucial matter. Pastor Minnick’s recent message, “Marriage of God’s Making,” provides eminently biblical instruction about this vital subject.

In Mount Calvary Baptist Pulpit

Three Things that American Presidents Need to Learn from God’s Dealings with Nebuchadnezzar

October 26, 2017

God’s dealings with king Nebuchadnezzar when he reigned over ancient Babylon reveal some profound demands that God makes over all governmental leaders of every nation, including American presidents. These demands profoundly refute a grave error that American presidents must not make in their thinking.

The Divine Demand for Social Justice

Daniel poignantly appealed to king Nebuchadnezzar to turn from his sinfulness, including his failures to deal properly with the poor in his kingdom:

Dan 4:27 Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.

Although he was the king over the most powerful empire in the world in his day, Nebuchadnezzar needed to learn that his position of power did not mean that he could do whatever he wanted to poor people—he had to show mercy to them!

Similarly, American presidents must learn from God’s dealings with Nebuchadnezzar that they must show mercy to the poor. Every American president must make addressing social justice issues in his country a top priority, especially in doing what he can to show mercy to the poor.

The Divine Demand for Humility

When king Nebuchadnezzar became proud in his heart in thinking that the greatness of his city that he had built for his kingdom was the result of his exerting the might of his own power and that he had done so for the sake of glorifying his own majesty (Dan. 4:30), God abased him profoundly (Dan. 4:31-33). After God had humbled him and then restored him, he openly testified that God is able to abase those who walk in pride (Dan. 4:37).

Every president of the US needs to learn from what God did to abase Nebuchadnezzar that any greatness that he enjoys in his presidency is ultimately not because of his own resourcefulness and abilities to conduct an effective campaign and run the country well. Instead, as president, he has been put in that position of immense power by God and allowed to prosper in it so that he would humbly glorify God and govern in His fear.

The Divine Demand for Declaring the Truth about Who Reigns Over All

Nebuchadnezzar was the king of an idolatrous empire that had exalted itself greatly against the God of heaven (cf. Dan. 3). God revealed to him His demand that he had to recognize that God is the One Who reigns over all and exalts whomever He wishes to whatever positions of authority they have (Dan. 4:25).

By dealing with Nebuchadnezzar openly in a profound humiliating manner, God brought him to testify the truth about God as the One who reigns over all (Dan. 4:34-35). Every American president needs to learn from Nebuchadnezzar that God wants him to acknowledge that God is the One who reigns over all and is the One who has exalted him to his position of top authority in our nation.

Conclusion

American presidents must not make the grave error of thinking that because they govern a secular country, they are free from any obligations toward God. In spite of their exalted position over the American people, the divine demands on them remain the same as they were on Nebuchadnezzar.

Every American president must learn from God’s dealings with king Nebuchadnezzar that he must govern in the fear of God by meetings God’s demands upon him.

In Interpretation, Theology

“Created Male and Female”

October 19, 2017

“Created Male and Female” is an excellent sermon by my pastor Dr. Mark Minnick that is worth listening to and will profit you.

In Mount Calvary Baptist Pulpit

What The Bible Teaches That Civil Governments Should Do about Adultery

October 11, 2017

Job was a married man who was neither a Christian nor a Jew. God testified on two occasions that he was the most righteous man of his day (Job 1:8; 2:3).

Job did not live in a Christian or Jewish country, and we have no evidence that Job lived under a theocracy. What Job therefore tells us should be the role of civil authorities is profoundly important for a biblical understanding of what civil governments should and should not do.

In Job 31:9-11, Job speaks of what he believed would be the case had he as a married man committed adultery with another woman:

Job 31:9 If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door;

¹⁰ Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.

¹¹ For this is an heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges.

¹² For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase.

Job specified that his having relations with a woman other than his wife, including his neighbor’s wife, would have been a heinous crime. As a righteous man, Job believed and taught that adultery was a horrific crime.

Job also made known that he believed that adultery was an iniquity that was “to be punished by the judges,” which shows that Job believed that civil authorities would rightly punish any such adulterous relations that he would have had. Because Job did not live in a Jewish country and as far as we know, he did not live under a theocracy, his giving this teaching provides vital revelation for what righteous people are to believe that civil authorities in any nation should do with those who commit adultery.

Based on this revelation that preceded the giving of the Mosaic Law by many hundreds of years, we learn that the Bible teaches that adultery is a heinous crime that civil governments are to punish. The Bible does not teach that adultery is a sin but not a crime.

In Discipleship, Interpretation, Theology

Oboe, Cello, Viola, and Guitar Quartet of “Always the Same”

October 4, 2017

“Always the Same” is a beautiful hymn by Ron Hamilton that extols how Jesus is unchanging. Recently, four of us from my church ministered this hymn as an oboe, cello, viola, and guitar quartet.

In Guitar Music, Mount Calvary Baptist Music Ministry

We Ought to Pray That God Would Keep Us from Sinning Against Him

September 29, 2017

Ezekiel 6:9 And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall lothe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.

What a sobering thought it is to have God tell us that He was broken with the “whorish heart” of His people who had departed from Him and with their eyes that had gone whoring after their idols!

When we think of the pain that we who are His people can bring to the heart of our God who loves us perfectly, how prayerful ought we to be that God would keep us from sinning against Him!

In Discipleship

On Churches Investing in Having Their Own Cemeteries

September 25, 2017

Instead of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, in some cases even more, on building athletic and other recreational facilities, churches all over this country should be investing in having their own cemeteries so that they can provide for their own people and others to be buried both at much lower costs and with their brethren with whom they have shared so much of their lives.

In Discipleship

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The Divine Demand for Social Justice

The Divine Demand for Humility

The Divine Demand for Declaring the Truth about Who Reigns Over All

Conclusion

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