Category Archives: e-Teachings

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To Ponder with Prayer

When a new year begins, it seems like a natural time to make evaluations about the past year and plan changes for the new one, which many people do. Followers of Christ, of course, are evaluating their lives much more frequently than once every twelve months. Still, there is something special about the start of a new year. So as 2010 begins, I would like to suggest that we reflect on getting “back to the basics.” I’m speaking, in fact, of the most basic of the basics. If we focus on that one thing, our spiritual lives become much less complicated, and everything else falls into place. That most basic thing is, of course, loving God.

Below are seven short thoughts to prayerfully ponder about loving God. I recommend taking them slowly, one at a time, with some pause for reflection. Or better, focus on just one each day for the next seven days during your daily prayer time.

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Lend, Expecting Nothing

When I began thinking about Jesus’ command to “lend, expecting nothing in return,” I initially thought He meant, “Lend, and don’t charge any interest on your loans,” as I remembered the Mosaic Law forbade the people of Israel to charge interest on loans made to their poor countrymen (see Ex. 22:25). But as I read Jesus’ commandment within its context, I realized that He meant that His followers should lend without expecting to receive back either interest or principal:

If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men (Luke 6:33-35; emphasis added).

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Other Than an Occasional Problem With Pride, I Believe I’ve Reached Sinless Perfection

Every once in a while I hear a report of some group who believes they’ve attained sinless perfection. It is somewhat amusing to imagine people entertaining that idea without them being lifted up in pride, which would, of course, immediately disqualify them from being perfect. You may have heard the story about the congregation that voted to determine who was the most humble person among them. They ultimately awarded an elderly saint with a “Most Humble” badge. But when he started wearing it, they voted to strip him of it!

It has been my observation that the people who think they are the most holy are often the least holy, and those who think they are the least holy are the most holy, if for no other reason than their painful awareness of their own shortcomings. Proud people are blind to their sin, whereas humble people still see their need to regularly pray the prayer that Jesus taught His followers—“Forgive me of my sins as I forgive those who sin against me.”

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A Question for My Beloved Calvinists

Those who have been reading with me through the New Testament chronologically—by means of our daily emailed devotional that we call HeavenWord Daily—know that I am not a Calvinist. In fact, practically every time we happen upon one of the many passages of Scripture that contradict the doctrines of Calvinism, I point it out. Consequently, I’ve pointed out scores of scriptures that illustrate where Calvinism deviates from biblical truth.

For readers who may not know what Calvinism is, let me briefly explain. Calvinists believe that, in eternity past, God sovereignly selected some people to be saved, and thus He also sovereignly selected everyone else to be damned. At a pre-determined point during the lifetimes of those who are allegedly pre-selected for salvation, God draws them irresistibly, and they are born again. Calvinists also believe, and understandably so, that Jesus did not die for the sins of everyone. Rather, He only died for those whom He allegedly predestined for salvation. Finally, because Calvinists believe that salvation does not depend on any person’s free will and only upon the sovereign decree and action of God, they also believe that no genuinely-saved person could possibly ever become unsaved. Once genuinely saved, people are guaranteed to be saved in the end, which is probably the most attractive element of Calvinism, and which may explain why some people readily embrace it. Once a person is convinced that he has been sovereignly pre-selected for salvation, he knows he has salvation “in the bag.”

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As a Father

Last month, George Sodini walked into a women’s aerobics class at an LA Fitness Club just a few miles from where I live. He turned out the lights and began shooting into the darkness, firing fifty rounds. Within seconds, he killed three women and wounded nine others. Then he shot and killed himself.

According to his blog, he had been planning the killings and his suicide at LA Fitness for months in advance. In December, he wrote in that blog of the evangelical church he had attended for thirteen years, saying of the pastor, “This guy teaches (and convinced me) you can commit mass murder then still go to heaven.”

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A Closer Look at Forgiving

It’s Friday after prayers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and worshippers are streaming from Al-Jafali Mosque to surround an area in the adjacent square that has been cordoned off by police. In the center of that square kneels a man with hands tied behind his back, flanked by an imam, a prison warden, and an executioner grasping a four-foot sword. The condemned man faces the victim’s family some yards away, from whom he begs forgiveness. Behind him, on the other side of the square, the prisoner’s family is weeping, also begging the victim’s family to forgive.

A government official reads the charges and then the verdict, while the kneeling man closes his eyes and begins to recite verses from the Qur’an. The executioner lifts his gleaming sword. The faint look away.

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A Tribute to Michael

Editor’s Note: Please makes sure you read past the first paragraph!

The impact he has had upon our world really cannot be measured. His God-given abilities, his accomplishments and his fame have become legendary. Although shrouded in much mystery, every time he has made an appearance, crowds have been stunned. Every performance has been a thriller with a capital T. Personally, I believe he deserves even more appreciation than has been given to him. No doubt in heaven he is even much more appreciated than he is on the earth. And so I wanted to write a short tribute to Michael.

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Salvation B.C. and A.D. Part 2

Last month’s e-teaching Salvation B.C. and A.D. provoked some great responses. Some reinforced what I had written with scriptures I hadn’t mentioned, and some asked questions, some of which I will try to address in this teaching. I strongly suggest that you read Salvation B.C. and A.D., if you haven’t already, before reading what follows. Otherwise you might misinterpret what I’ve written below. – David

Last month, in Part 1, I did my best to prove that since Adam, God has offered salvation to everyone and that He has granted salvation to anyone who repented and believed in Him. Those who do repent and believe in Him are characterized by obedience to the law that He has written in their consciences.

Moreover, salvation has always been offered on the basis of Jesus’ substitutionary sacrifice, before and after He died. He died for the sins of the world, not just for the sins of the people who lived after He died.

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Salvation B.C. and A.D.

It goes without saying that from Adam until the present time, people have been sinning. In fact, it is quite safe to say that all people who have ever lived have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Knowing this, we thank God that Jesus died for our sins, making our salvation possible.

But here is an interesting question: Was it possible for people to be saved prior to Jesus’ death?

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Infidel for Christ

This month I have another video recommendation. It is a 45-minute secular documentary about Mosab Hassan Yousef, a young Palestinian man who has believed in the Lord Jesus. The documentary is encouraging for several reasons.

First, if anyone would seem to be born disadvantaged to believe in Jesus, Mosab Yousef was that person. He was raised under the influence of a father who is one of the founders of Hamas, the Islamic terrorist group that governs the Gaza portion of the Palestinian Territories and is devoted to the destruction of Israel. Mosab was at one time the leader of the radical Islamic Youth Movement of Hamas. But when he heard some truth about Jesus, his heart yielded to the Spirit. It demonstrates that anyone can believe in Jesus, regardless of their background, even those steeped in anti-Christian culture.