Category: Uncategorized

Neal Pollard

Imagine a soft drink company that spent the majority of its resources, its work force, its focus, its advertising, and its research and development on what type of material of which its container will be or what color to make its label.  That company would likely fail to sell nearly as many soft drinks as the company who properly prioritized the goal of getting the drink onto the taste buds of as many people as possible.  It would be foolhardy and fatal to misplace one’s mission so thoroughly as the first company in this example.

However, too many congregations of God’s people have lost sight of its prime objective.  The number one goal of the church should be what it was for Jesus, who said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).  The church is not primarily tasked with building huge church buildings, providing a thousand and one social programs, serving as the brotherhood’s heretic detectors, or similar comparatively esoteric and superficial endeavors.  Yet, too many congregations have devolved, in terms of time, money, and talent, into committees obsessed with container types and label colors—so to speak!  All the while, soul after soul passes from time and earth to eternity and Hades, destined to some day stand on the Lord’s left hand.  Christians, armed with the knowledge and the resources to reach the honest among these, have too often lost sight of the prime objective.

Instead of pessimistic resignation, the church’s response, everywhere and often, must be to do what it can to help retrain the collective and individual focus.  The makeup of man’s mind is such that he needs constantly to be reminded of things.  Thus, God instituted the Lord’s Supper (cf. Acts 20:7), like the Passover meal of old, to be done regularly.  The same subjects in the New Testament are addressed repeatedly, to reinforce and remind us of their importance.  For that reason, it is good for God’s people to persistently emphasize soul-winning.  It has been anecdotally reported that churches of Christ in the United States have averaged one baptism per congregation per year for the last twenty-plus years.  Since some churches do much, much better than that over the course of a year, a good many must not be baptizing people at all.  How many people, not including members’ children, are we teaching and baptizing?

Whatever we can do to encourage a reversal of that trend, let us do!  Let us stay committed to keeping the main thing the main thing!

Neal Pollard

Three miles west of Blanchard, North Dakota, stands what for decades was the tallest man-made structure in the world and to this day remains third-tallest.  The lattice tower is over 2,000 feet high, weighs 392 tons, and, with guy wires, takes up 160 acres of land.  It is an incredible view, jutting out of the ground in the middle of the flat northern plains (some info from emporis.com).

In Psalm 61:3, David says, “For you have been a refuge for me, a tower of strength against the enemy.”  We see many mentions of towers in the Old Testament, starting with the audacious building project after the flood at Babel.  Towers show up in scripture as places where people hid out and counterattacked their enemies (cf. Judges 9:50-57). Korah cites the many towers near Jerusalem (Psalm 48:12).  But, none of these towers are impervious to attack or decay.  Where are the towers of Babel, Thebez, and Zion today?  They are crumbled into oblivion and discoverable only through archaeological digs.  Even a modern tower that overtook the North Dakota mast for height, a radio tower in Warsaw, Poland, collapsed and lost its ranking.

There are many places people turn for refuge, comfort, and protection today.  It may be home security systems, money, alcohol, illicit sex, the nation or the military, or any number of other things.  None of those are an adequate substitute for the hope only found in God.  He is the Rock higher than I (Psalm 61:2).  He is the unfailing help of all who turn to Him and trust in Him.  We live in a world where things break down, get replaced, stop working, become obsolete, or fail when tested (cf. Matthew 6:19-20).  Only God will remain the strong tower in which we can entrust our earthly lives and depend upon for eternal life!  Are you in God’s strong tower?

Neal Pollard

Where can you turn today without seeing this predominant headline:  “Bin Laden Is Dead!”  So much emotion churns at the declaration.  Military families, spouses and parents and siblings who have lost sons and daughters in this pursuit and the war surrounding it, find it a bittersweet moment.  Preachers and others, waxing not a little political, call it divine justice in Twitter and Facebook posts.  Crowds patriotically gathered in Washington, D.C., Ground Zero, and cities around this nation, waving flags and exulting in the news and what it represents.  It would probably be hard to find too many people neutral and unaffected by the news, especially here in our nation.  This man, one-time Taliban leader and the mastermind behind the attacks of September 11, 2001, was killed by Navy seals.  Again, the outpouring of emotion in response has been incredible!

While so much time has transpired since it occurred, another event eclipses the aforementioned headline into utter oblivion.  It transcends nations and politics.  Its occurrence is the transforming moment of all human history.  The truthfulness of it affects all time and eternity.  The headline reads: “Jesus Christ Is Alive!”  Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Matthew records, “The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.  He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said.  Come, see the place where He was lying.  Go quickly and tell the disciples that He has risen from the dead'” (Matt. 28:6-7a).  Thus spread the greatest news that ever passed through the lips of a man or woman.  This moment has changed not just the course of human history, but the individual course plotted by men and women for over 20 centuries of time.  It is this “living hope” (1 Pet. 1:3) that spurs us to persevere on the brightest days and the darkest hours.

Bin Laden’s death is no doubt momentous.  But, his death will not get a single person to heaven.  Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection is the only way any of us will get to heaven.  I am not telling anyone how to react to a terrorist’s death.  I am reminding all of us how to react to a Savior’s resurrection.  Let that be more on your lips today than that other headline news!

Neal Pollard

What an occasion the inauguration of the temple must have been.  The priests could not minister on that occasion because the cloud and the Lord’s glory filled it (1 Kings 8:11).  Solomon dedicated it most ceremoniously, including his beautiful prayer preserved in that same chapter.  One of Israel’s greatest, most powerful kings, at the material and geographical apex of the nation’s existence, uttered that petition before the people down on his knees with his hands spread toward heaven before the altar (1 Kings 8:54).  Then, he stood, blessing the nation, and proclaimed, “Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised; not one word has failed of all His good promise, which He promised through Moses His servant” (1 Kings 8:56).  So many rich truths can be mined from this powerful proclamation.

The promises of God are helpful.  They enjoyed rest at the time of the building of the temple.  David had subdued their enemies through war.  Now, Israel enjoyed peace.  It was just as God promised.  Think of the promises God makes to us about the rest we find in Christ (Matt. 11:28-30).

The promises of God are faithful.  Solomon could say in his time what has always been true concerning the divine promises.  “Not one word has failed.”  We serve a God who always delivers on His promises.  That excites and comforts us in our obedient submission.  It should fill us with dread if we are rebellious and disobedient.  Either way, His promises will come to pass.  We can count on it (cf. 2 Cor. 1:20)!

The promises of God are hopeful.  The nature of God giving His word is “good.”  What a profoundly simple way to characterize them!  James, a New Testament writer famed for his wisdom, echoes Solomon, saying, “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow” (Js. 1:17).  Those are promises in which you can stake your all!

The promises of God are timeless.  As we have already seen, what was true in Solomon’s time was true back to the beginning and will hold true to the end.  Both covenants promise His promises will be fulfilled.  This has buoyed up the struggling, hurting, otherworldly-minded children of God time immemorial.

The promises of God are limitless.  Consider that word “all.”  How many promises does God make in Scripture?  Some count as many as 3,000, but it is difficult to find an exact figure.  Yet, here is what we do know.  He has kept, is keeping, and will keep every one of them.

The promises of God are flawless.  They are unfailing, according to Solomon.  Man will frequently disappoint us, but God exceeds our expectations!  Heaven will prove that once and for all, but earth has sufficient proof!  The blessings in Christ (cf. Eph. 1:3) grow sweeter and more meaningful with each passing day!

You and I have failed too often regarding promises we make!  Contrast that with God’s promises.  They help us reconcile our past, reinforce our present, and revel in our future!

Neal Pollard

Please forgive the second “Stuart story” for those of you who heard about Stuart’s unlikely recovery from “death’s door” Sunday before last.  This little squirrel has really burrowed his way into our lives (yes, I know that is a rabbit metaphor).  Early Tuesday morning, Carl was cleaning out Stuart’s cage, aka our dog’s old travel kennel.  Somehow, Stuart made his way onto our tallest tree and shimmied up onto a branch about twenty feet high.  Having spent most of his life inside our nice, warm house, Stuart had no idea how to get down from there.  So, he stayed in one spot.  This went from minutes to hours.  Finally, in the late afternoon, we borrowed a tall ladder to rescue Stuart.  The process took a couple of hours, but finally, after prodding him with a stick and tossing a tennis ball over and over near him and having a blanket as a makeshift trampoline just in case, I was able to reach up and grab the scared tree rodent and bring him back to ground level.

Perhaps because that evening I was going to be speaking on a podcast with Kyle Massengale about evangelism, I saw a compelling analogy.  While never wanting to trivialize the eternally important task of soul-winning, several things occurred to me in the rescue of that squirrel necessary to our work of winning the lost.  This occurred to me, as I thought about our memorable episode with Stuart.

It took effort.  From hauling and setting up the ladder, to getting up high enough to reach the critter, to coaxing, pleading, and the like, we had to exert effort to save the squirrel.

It took emotion.  It was because especially certain members of my family have a fond affection for Stuart that we stuck with this to the end.  Care preceded intervention.

It took persistence.  The whole process took hours to complete.  There were times when giving up seemed the best choice and especially the most convenient choice, but everyone stayed on the task.

It took teamwork.  Some held the blanket, some held the ladder, some climbed the ladder (or the tree), and one held the camera.  Together, we did it.

It was not initially appreciated.  At first, Stuart did not understand and certainly did not appreciate what we were doing.  It seems that he is happy with the outcome, but when I pulled him, claws and all, from his branch, he squeaked and squealed for the first few seconds.

As we think souls every day, we should be reminded that it takes effort, emotion, persistence, and teamwork.  The preacher or a small minority cannot fulfill the church’s mission alone.  It will require sacrifices of time and resources.  It will require personal study to prepare to study with others.  It will necessarily involve our emotions, from the love that prompts us to share the good news to the potential heartache and joy that occurs in teaching the lost.  It will exact a persevering, tenacious attitude.  Oh, and sometimes the lost will not initially appreciate our desire to help–at least as far as we can tell–but how it will be worth it, for them and for others, if we make the effort!  Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10)!  May we join Him in doing the same, no matter what!

Neal Pollard

Famed explorer and adventurer Freya Stark said, “There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do.”  Beyond happiness, can it not be said that it is difficult to find lasting peace or genuine righteousness in the absence of integrity?  In the 15th Psalm, David explores the qualities of a man with integrity, one who, in the words of the early church fathers, “Walketh without stain, and worketh righteousness” (Schaff, 47).  What is at stake is being God’s guest, “dwelling” and “abiding” with Him.  What is required for that to happen is a love for truth at the deepest level, a hatred for running down the name and reputation of another, one who follows the golden rule, hates error and upholds truth lovers, keeps his word no matter what, and flees from materialism (2-5).  “Here is the holiness without which no one sees God (Heb. 12:14), covering conduct, conversation and relationships (2–3), values, integrity and financial contentment (4–5)” (Carson, New Bible Commentary, Logos).

Think about that.  Integrity covers your observable actions, your speech, your interaction with others, what you believe in and hold dear, and your relationship to the material things of this world.  Failures in integrity usually come in one or more of these areas.  Hypocrisy, dishonesty and deceit, conforming to worldliness, ethical iffiness, and the like reveal perilous cracks in the foundation of one’s integrity.  Much of that is a matter of being what we claim to be and what we portray to others that we are.  It is having one face, the same for our closer friends and peers that we show to everyone else.  It is not just being on Monday through Saturday what we display on Sunday.  It is being in private the public image we project.

Let us believe the inspired psalmist, that nurturing a close relationship with God depends on how we treat others and how consistently we practice what we preach.  Beware the person who says he is all about Jesus, but who is willing to violate Jesus’ teaching about holiness and true godliness.  Such lack the integrity necessary to dwell in the house of the Lord!

Neal Pollard

It has been said, “Remember to taste your words before you spit them out!”  Too many times in my life, I have regretted my failure to heed that wisdom.  Our words have meaning and we too often minimize the impact our speech and rhetoric has on our hearers.  As a preacher, I must face that fact every time I preach or teach.  But, it is an ironclad truth for us all.  What we say really matters!

Adolf Hitler was quoted in the October 6, 1930, edition of time as saying, “All epoch-making revolutionary events have been produced not by the written but by the spoken word.”  That is frightening, given what evil Hitler perpetrated through his words.  He is a prime example of the power of our words.  Solomon informs us that “death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Prov. 18:21).  Jesus ties our tongue to our eternal destiny, saying, “Every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.  For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matt. 12:36-37).

Think about how widely that impacts our lives and their influence.  What about when we engage in gossip, idle speculation, surmising, and innuendo with our words?  What about conniving and manipulating words?  What about those words we speak that give false comfort to those engaged in sin and immorality?  What about dogmatic words we speak, equating our preferences, proclivities, and personal judgments with Bible truth and passing them off to others as divine law?  What about those angry words, spit out without filter or forethought?  What about vindictive, bitter, or arrogant speech?

It is sobering to think about how often our tongues can trip up our travels down the road of life!  Proverbs 4:24 says to put away a deceitful mouth and devious speech.  Paul says to put aside “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth” (Col. 3:8).  What are these and so many other passages admonishing us to do?  In essence, we are urged to bite our tongues when they are prone to produce their poisons.  How we all need to measure our words before they take shape and fly away!  There is an African proverb that apparently goes, “Quarrels end, but words once spoken never die.”  The Russians say, “A spoken word is not a sparrow. Once it flies out, you can’t catch it.”  Oh, that all of us will say, “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips” (Ps. 141:3).

Neal Pollard

When Paul talks to Titus about salvation, it is no surprise that he deals with the work of Christ.  He gave Himself for us.  This so firmly implies the cross that one who has cursory knowledge of the New Testament knows what Paul means.  There are four beautiful qualities of God’s grace revealed by Paul here.

GOD’S GRACE IS EVIDENT (11).  It has appeared to all men.  Through the Bible, people of every land and language have heard the message of grace!  It is an unprejudiced, impartial gift, in that it is for all men!

GOD’S GRACE IS EDUCATIONAL (12).  Grace is not cheap!  It has a definite purpose, to teach us!  What it teaches us is sacrifice and self-denial.  To enjoy the benefits of grace, I must deny sin and live righteously.  I cannot go my own way, doing my own thing.  Grace teaches me differently.

GOD’S GRACE IS EXPECTANT (13).  That is its effect upon me.  G.W. Knight writes that “our expectant waiting for the blessed hope is spoken of as the appearing of ‘our Savior'” (The Pastoral Epistles, 326).  What He did at the cross leads us to look ahead to what He is going to do at the second coming.  I am looking for the fruition of grace, the future impact of grace upon my soul!

GOD’S GRACE IS EMANCIPATING (14).  It redeems us, meaning it set us free and paid the ransom for our captivity to sin.  It purifies us, meaning we are free from the stain and filth of sin.  Appreciating this wonderful freedom, we will be His and His workers in this world!  We are freed to serve Him, but what wonderful freedom!

God’s grace is sufficient because He is the one offering it.  It is so wonderful, but it does so much for our good.  It should move us to give ourselves totally to His service!  Thank God for His grace.

Neal Pollard

It was a special, feel good story whose cast of characters included men with names like “Pops,” “Candy Man,” “Mad Dog,” “Cobra,” “Crazy Horse,” “Matt The Scatt,” “The Frying Dutchman,” “The Hammer,” “Scrap Iron,” and “The Caveman.”  They had several feel good stories among their number. One of them had overcome a childhood disease, osteomyelitis, and wore a brace until he was 12.  One of them co-authored a book with a U.S. poet laureate.  One of them is said to have hit a home run while in the minors that went out of the stadium, landed in a coal car of a passing train, and was picked up in another state several hundred miles later.  They even had a theme song that captured the fact that even though they were quirky and not without a few colorful characters, they were a tight-knit bunch.  The Sisters Sledge hit, “We Are Family,” perfectly described the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team that won the World Series.  It had only one Hall of Fame player, Willie Stargell, but most of the rest of the team came together to have the best season of their career in 1979.  It is still one of the most memorable teams in all of sports history.

“Family” is a word with definite, strong connotations.  For many, the word evokes feelings of warmth and sweet memories of bygone days.  For some, it includes the presence of small and growing children who seem to enter a new phase of development weekly, if not daily.  For others, that brings back to mind a stage of life now long past.  The very name, “family,” brings sights, smells, and sounds into play to help us conjure up our personal pictures.  Uttering the word “family” may make eyes roll or light up with joy or both.

The New Testament, in several places, teaches the idea that the church is the family of God.  Paul tells Timothy we can can how to behave in God’s house (1 Tim. 3:15).  That extends to how we treat each other in our various age groups and both genders (1 Tim. 5:1-2).  Paul instructs Titus on how the older men and women and younger men and women are to act, emphasizing how the older are to teach the younger (Ti. 2:1ff).  Peter tells younger members how to treat the older members (1 Pet. 5:5).  The Ephesian epistle reveals how this spiritual family loves and is loved (1:4,15; 2:4; 3:17-21; 4:2,15; 5:2), accepts (1:6 + 4:2), supports and unites (note the use of the word “together” throughout the epistle; 1:10, 2:5, 2:6; 2:21; 2:22; 4:16), and unites (1:22; 4:1-3; 4:24; 4:32).

The ’79 Pirates have nothing on us, the church.  We are family!  This is not an organization with a paid, professional speaker, a board of directors, and a fraternity, club, or party bound by ideas and ideals.  Is that how you would describe your physical family?  No, it is how Lanny Wolfe described it.

We’re part of the family that’s been born again,
Part of the family whose love knows no end;
For Jesus has saved us, and made us His own,
Now we’re part of the family that’s on its way home.
And sometimes we laugh together, sometimes we cry;
Sometimes we share together, heartaches and sighs;
Sometimes we dream together of how it will be
When we all get to heaven, God’s family.

Neal Pollard

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”  Emerson was talking about integrity and fortitude.  Your past and future are not nearly as key to what happens to you as your character.

The history of humanity, of the family, of the church, and of the individual has always been filled with challenges of adversity, trials, threats, and fears.  It will continue to be that way until our Lord returns.  Life is about loss as much as it is about gain!  Pain and hurt are tenured professors in the classroom of experience, as surely as are joy and success.

How will we handle the hardships and disappointments of life?  It depends on what is within us.  More than that, it is determined by Who is in us.  Paul could say, “Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20; cf. Col. 1:27; Rom. 8:10).  He is also emphatic that the Holy Spirit is in each of us as Christians (Rom. 8:11; 1 Cor. 3:16; etc.).  As we fill our hearts with His Word, we are shaping and molding our character to overcome our past and prepare for our future (Ps. 119:11). We are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:1-2).  As we are “renewed in the spirit of [our] mind” (Eph. 4:23), we better equip ourselves to face what we have to face in life.

That does not mean we become infallible or perfect.  The fact of our humanity ensures that, unfortunately, we will continue to sin and fall short of God’s glory (Rom. 3:23).  But, churches, homes, and individuals have character.  The question always is, “What kind of character?”  That is determined by what (and Who) lies within us!

Neal Pollard

I had a good brother make an appointment with me yesterday to ask me that big, sobering question.  He wanted to know what I thought the church’s single greatest need was.  How would you answer that?  It is hard to settle on just one response, isn’t it?  You could say “leadership.”  You could say “belief in the inspiration and authority of scripture.”  You could say “more commitment.”  But, what do you think of this answer?  Our greatest need is divine dependency.

When setting our church budgets and personal budgets, when planning our lives, when seeking to save the lost, when considering church leadership, when approaching the Bible, or any other matter, do we rely more on self or God?  Spiritual growth, it seems to me, is interconnected with a growing dependency on Him.  It is how we survive the storms, cull sin out of our lives, reach out on those limbs of faith, and leave our comfort zones to perform greater service for the Lord.  If we limit ourselves to just what we can see and produce, we will dream and act so small!  If we include God in our plans or, more accurately, if we insert ourselves as tools in God’s hands to accomplish His plans, we will accomplish to His glory far more than we ever imagined.  Paul said, “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us” (Eph. 3:20).  Fill a church with people who are painfully aware of their limitations and God’s limitlessness, then turn the world upside down!  He will not penalize or punish us for tapping into His reservoir of blessings and resources!  He will show us just how much we can do when we totally, utterly depend on Him!

Neal Pollard

It was one of the lead stories on “Good Morning America,” the new “J Crew” ad featuring a mom painting the toe nails of her five-year-old son.  The image is accompanied by a quote from the mom and company designer, saying, “Lucky for me, I ended up with a boy whose favorite color is pink.  Toenail painting is way more fun in neon.”  Of course, the media has seen to it that “experts” weigh in on this from both sides.  Some say the boy will need psychotherapy, while others decry concerns calling it harmless fun.

Radical feminism, for those who study it, is openly determined to feminize the male species in our society.  F.L. Morton and Rainer Knopff, in Revolution and the Court Party, write,

“Contemporary (or second wave) feminism has been aptly described as “Marxism without economics,” since feminists replace class with gender as the key social construct. Of course, what society constructs can be deconstructed.  This is the feminist project: to abolish gender difference by transforming its institutional source–the patriarchal family”‘ (p. 75).

Such ideology stems from the preconception that long-established, male-dominant cultures and ideas (like the Bible) have unfairly shackled women through elevating the male as head and leader.  An agenda has been underfoot for a couple of generations to dismantle the traditional family concept that puts the man as “head of the house.”  A part of this organized movement has been the blurring of gender and sexual lines, a confusing of roles and identities.

Apart from whatever other problems you may have with this advertisement, consider carefully the biblical angle.  That gender identity and role is vital to God is abundantly clear from Scripture.  From the beginning, God made us “male” and “female” (Mt. 19:4).  Under the Old Law, God wanted gender distinction and called attempts to blur it “abomination” (Dt. 22:5).  In the New Testament, we have the divine arrangement with the man as spiritual leader, loving his wife as himself, caring for her, and providing for her and the rest of the family (Eph. 5:22ff; 1 Tim. 5:8).

How does that align (or fail to align) with the advertisement in question?  While it cannot be proven to be an overt undermining of biblical roles, it might well be an attempt to encourage a blurring of gender identification.  As the father of three sons and the son of my father, I cannot imagine us sitting down to paint nails together.  In fact, you do not know how difficult it was for me to even try to imagine that or type it.  Why?  The very notion is unnatural!

As much as ever, we need strong families where mothers encourage the feminization of their daughters and fathers encourage the masculinization of their sons.  More than that, we need to be teaching each gender to embrace the roles God gives them.  Therein lies the moral fiber of society.  Radical feminism would destroy it!

 

Neal Pollard

Today, I took a trip down memory lane back into my boyhood past.  I saw the graves and home places of my ancestors.  I visited with older relatives on my father’s side.  In fact, this preaching appointment has proven a literal family reunion.  Shaking hands with people at church services yesterday, people of all ages–most of whom I have never met and the rest of whom I have not seen since I was a pre-schooler–walked past me telling me that we are related and what the connection was.  I believe half this congregation of 200 are relatives of mine.  It really heartens me to know that so many of my family members here are Christians, faithfully attending a very good congregation.

Today, I heard many stories about family members through the years.  Some of them have made me proud to hear while others, honestly, made me a little ashamed of those members of my family.  Some of the most encouraging stories were of those who had made some very bad decisions in the past, but whose repentance is both full and obvious.  Yet, through it all whether good or bad, these are inescapably, irrevocably my family.

Today, I thought about the congregations where I have attended and have served in my ministry.  The latter have usually been many miles (or states) away from my physical family.  In many respects, the church has become my family is the truest sense.  They have become surrogate parents and siblings.  That is exactly how Paul described them in 1 Timothy 5:1-2.  Peter did the same in 1 Peter 5:5.  We are part of the same “household” (1 Timothy 3:15).  Sometimes, this family falls short of our expectations and hopes.  Other times, members of this family far exceed them.  Still other times, family members make mistakes (don’t we all?) but recover from them in exemplary ways.  How many of our family members have overcome a shaky, shady past to be shining lights today?  But, through thick and thin, happiness and sorrow, our fellow Christians are family!  There is a much bigger picture than each of us as individuals or any crisis, issue, trial, or temptation.  As that familiar church song puts it, “We’re part of the family that’s on its way home.”  Let us not forget that as we live with and love one another.  We’re part of a family.  Inescapably.  Irrevocably.  Irresistibly!

 

Thom Vaught (Special guest Bread Blog Baker today)

For generations man has questioned what a soul is worth.  We can now say definitively that a new base model Soul costs just a little over $13,000.  However, a fully decked Sport model will set you back around $18,000 at full sticker price.  Certainly the Kia Motor company introducing the Soul meant no disrespect for the human soul.  Its name was meant to show the passion they have for automobiles as well as a homophone for the capital city of their home country of Korea.

Moving from the material to the spiritual it may seem illogical to question the price of a human soul.  However, during Christ’s ministry that very question was posed by our Lord to His disciples (Matthew 16:26).  He asked what would be gained if they were given the whole world in exchange for their souls?  Given the perspective of eternity, nothing is gained by forfeiting one’s soul even in return for the whole world.  This makes the soul valuable beyond measure to the person in question.

If the soul is priceless to the individual, what is it worth to another?  In other words, what is the fair value or price someone is willing to pay for your soul?  In order to make an honest assessment, you must consider the price paid in order to redeem your soul.  In that endeavor, God has spared no expense giving His best (Romans 8:32).  God allowed His only Son to come to earth and face a cruel death because of the value He placed upon your soul.

The fact that the Creator of the universe places so much value on your soul, should affect how you value souls as well.  When we take the heavenly perspective in evaluating the worth of the souls around us, it changes the way we think about souls.  Both your soul and the souls of those around you are priceless and Jesus paid the ultimate price to prove it.

 

Neal Pollard

Have you thought about all the advantages and blessings we enjoy these days?  We still live in more comfort and ease than the rest of the world here in this nation.  Without the stressors of persecution, privation, and peril, we have spawned quite a few philosophers–even in the field of theology.

Certainly, you see the dramatic changes and shifts in our culture brought about by new, succeeding world views and philosophies from modernism (denial of the Bible’s inspiration, miracles, etc.) to situational ethics (course of action depends on the situation and as long as love in the motivation the action is acceptable) to relativism (what’s right for me may not be right for you and vice versa) to pluralism (many paths up the mountain; i.e., many ways to view and follow God) to humanism (essentially, man is the highest authority left to determine his own way) to hedonism (pleasure is god).  Today, the post-postmodern thought sometimes called “emergent philosophy” is a direct descendent of these other ancestors.

In the wake of these ideologies, a culture has adopted a thoroughly secular, skeptical, and sensual point of view that affects how they view matters like God, the Bible, “church,” and Christianity.  The media normally depicts these in a roundly negative way.  Many average people, no longer having any religious affiliation, are traveling the road of life like one in a fast car at night without headlights.  They are hurtling toward eternal lostness without the benefit of the light of truth.

How do we reach such a culture?  What nuances, innovations, and techniques have the finesse to steer them toward the light?  May I respectfully say that while many have tried to ask the question in this way, it misses a timeless, powerful affirmation of scripture.  We may not enjoy or appreciate that affirmation, we cannot deny it without denying Scripture.  Paul wrote the church at Corinth, steeped in many of the same mindsets we face today thanks to Greek philosophy and Romanic culture, in 1 Corinthians 1:18-31.  Paul essentially says that you cannot find God through worldly thinking, whether you want signs of worldly wisdom (22). Then he says, “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;  but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are” (26-28).

What do we have to offer the world?  It sees the message of the cross as either stumblingblock or foolishness (23).  Only those who hear the clear call of the gospel, who are seeking and hurting and receptive, can see the power and wisdom of God (24).  Usually, those folks are found numbered among the wise, mighty, or noble, as the world sees it.  The plain and simple message of Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2) is enough for the honest-hearted searcher (cf. Lk. 8:15).  That must be the drawing power, at the end of the day, and whatever approach we use to do that must not subtract or detract from that message!

 

Neal Pollard

With the snowfall overnight, I chose to run on the treadmill at the gym.  Over the course of a longer run it becomes necessary to find diversions.  I spend a lot of time looking up at ESPN on the TV, I try to find music on my Ipod that keeps me pumped, and I people watch as they come into or leave the gym.  Near the end of today’s run, I saw two women leave.  One of them hopped into her car and lit up a cigarette.  Here in the rarified air of Colorado, after a workout, that seemed like a baffling move.  How could one dirty their lungs after exercising presumably strenuously in the supposed motivation of improving the health?  It will give me plenty to ponder as I eat a bowl of Blue Bell tonight.

Seriously, it is an eye-opening illustration of ways we often shoot ourselves in the feet.  We pray, maybe fervently, for wisdom, then we turn around and speak or act without restraint and self-control.  We attend church services out of a love for the Lord but also a conviction that it will make us spiritually stronger, then we leave and may find ourselves thinking, talking, or acting in ways that displease the Lord.  We sing “Purer in Heart, O God” and “Nearer, Still Nearer,” then we allow our hearts and minds to drift far from Him for the next several days.  We all must guard against our own version of the “after-workout smoke.”

It is imperative that we partner our prayers, Bible study, worship, service, and other Christian duties with transformation.  These exercises are divinely designed to draw us closer to Christ, to make a difference in who we are, and to produce a better us.  Perhaps it is after we have engaged in them that we need to be most vigilant to guard against spiritual laxity and laziness.  I enjoy the many spiritual highs of Christian living, but I must realize that I can fall from those heights, too.  So I pray, “Lord, keep me from spiritual letdowns.”  Let me be steady and strong, and let me build wisely off of those spiritual highs!

 

Neal Pollard

Most languages and cultures have them.  Idioms, “A group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words” (Mac dictionary), are commonly used but rarely analyzed.  Think about some you have heard and used all your life:

• Water seeks its own level
• It is raining cats and dogs
• A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
• A picture paints a thousand words
• Back to the drawing board
• Beat a dead horse
• Can’t cut the mustard
• Don’t count your chickens before they hatch
• Everything but the kitchen sink
• Hit the nail on the head

Obviously, you could come up with hundreds more.  To take the words literally and at face value is absurd, yet they picture and illustrate concepts and ideas.  This is a literary device you will find many times in scripture:

• “A house divided against itself falls” (Luke 11:17).  Today, that means that without unity there will be failure.
• “Can…the leopard (change) his spots?” (Jer. 13:23).  Today, we use that idiom to express the idea of how difficult it is for a person to change.
• “Keep me as the apple of the eye” (Psa. 17:8).  We take this to mean one who is most cherished.
• “Hide me in the shadow of Your wings” (Psa. 17:8).  Today, this is used to depict one helping and protecting someone less strong or capable.
• “Go the extra mile” (cf. Mat. 5:41). Today, we say this to express doing more than is expected.
• “Do not cast your pearls before swine” (Mat. 7:6).  Do not give what is valuable to one who does not appreciate its value.
• “Break bread” (Acts 20:7).  That means “partake of food” or “eating of a meal.”

The study of idioms in the Hebrew and Greek is a rich, broad study.  They are found repeatedly throughout Scripture.  The presence of idioms there is but one example that shows the necessity of the student being ready and able to attempt to interpret what is read.  Some people do not like the word “hermeneutics,” and not just the people who think it sounds like an obscure branch of science or math.  Many who know what it means (and it means the “science or method of Bible interpretation) disdain the idea that the Bible must be interpreted, preferring instead to believe that each person approaches the same text but may draw any number of valid conclusions.  This boils down to the belief that there is no objective standard of truth, no pattern to be found.  They see the whole Bible as little more than a collection of quaint wisdom, idiomatic expressions, and inspirational material.  While it is wisdom (never quaint!), inspirational, and rich with literary devices, it is infinitely more.  It is a God-breathed volume (2 Tim. 3:16-17) that guides the obedient to heaven while condemning the rebellious to hell.  We should be “in the Book” every day, not as critics but as disciples, drinking up its truths and demonstrating them in our daily lives!

(with thanks to http://www.idiomsite.com and “Bullinger’s Figures of Speech Used in the Bible,” p. 837ff).

 

Neal Pollard

Coloradans who embrace the outdoors can connect with what I am about to describe.  There is a feeling that comes on a sunny summer day up in the mountains as you begin a hike, feeling alive with good health and experiencing the chill of the air so much a byproduct of the altitude.  As you walk through the canopy of trees on the trail, you enjoy the increased heart rate as you climb, perhaps hearing the sounds of birds or chipmunks and having sensory overload as you walk through a flower-bedecked meadow or catch a glimpse at the first majestic, snow-covered mountain.  You may see a stream rushing with water the result of the melt-off of the snow.  You smell the penetrating odor of conifers and other tree and plant life.  Taken together, these God-produced sights, sounds, and smells are enough to leave you feeling refreshed.  The purity of undisturbed nature paints a picture of God’s power and love.

A Christian has the potential to bear that unique aroma (cf. Phil. 4:18), that lovely appearance (cf. Isa. 52:7; Phil. 4:8), and clarion sound (cf. 1 Cor. 14:8).  Our presence in a room should make a noticeable difference, not that we draw attention to ourselves but that our distinctiveness is seen, heard, and felt by our Christlikeness.  When people expect pride but they see meekness and humility, when they expect vulgarity but they are met with pure speech, when they brace for retaliation but they are met with forgiveness and understanding, when they are stuck in the darkness but are met with light, it is so often refreshing to them.  No, many will not appreciate it (cf. Titus 1:15), but those worthwhile will.  They will see the purity of true, Christian living, borne out in the attitude, the speech, and the conduct, as a breath of fresh air!  May we order our lives that people see that in us today and every day!

 

Neal Pollard

When I was a boy living in Cairo, Georgia, my family took several trips to a place in Florida called St. George Island.  It was a beautiful strip of land wedged between Apalachicola Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.  We would sit out on the porch of our hotel room at night and look at the vast array of stars with the ocean roar providing the sweetest background music.  We would comb the beach for shells and sand dollars.  We would get in and play in the water.  One year, when I was about eight, I was pushing the limits of safety by wading deeper and deeper into the water.  The waves were growing larger and larger, and I was having fun riding them up and down as they came past.  I remember looking back and waving at my parents, then turning around in time to misjudge the height and force of the incoming wave.  In a split second, I was underwater.  I remember seeing the water rushing and sea creatures beneath my feet.  I remember the feeling of terror and disorientation.  In what seemed an eternity, I was able to get to the surface and get back to water shallow enough to put down my feet.  Over 30 years later, I remember that vividly.

It often comes to mind when I read some inspired statements made in the Old Testament.  Facing the exile of his people and the devastation wrought by the Babylonians, Jeremiah wrote, “Waters flowed over my head; I said, ‘I am cut off!'” (Lam. 3:54).  David described his response to his sin in similar fashion, and though not mentioning water he paints a picture that makes me think of it when he says, “For my iniquities are gone over my head; As a heavy burden they weigh too much for me” (Ps. 38:4).  Life can so overwhelm us, knock us off our feet, and disorient us!  It can hurt, frighten, and confuse us.  What do you do when that happens?  Prayerfully, you must try to get back on your feet and get your head on the right side of the water.  We need divine help in such times.  Like the Psalmist says, though, God “stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of the waves, and the tumults of the peoples” (Ps. 65:7).  God will buoy us up and deliver us through the crashing of the waves that go over our heads.  We must never doubt that or give up when covered up!

 

Neal Pollard

Dan Williams sends out a very good daily email called “Preacher Stuff,” and today’s edition included an article by the Wall Street Journal entitled, “Why Do We Let Them Dress Like That?”  It is incredible to find a secular, media source taking a decided stance on a moral issue.  Jennifer Moses, a secular Jew, writes with her theory for why teen and pre-teen girls dress so immodestly these days.  She cites the experience of her own generation, the generation currently raising children, as being the first “to have grown up with widely available birth control…the feminist and postfeminist and postpill generation…and now…scads of us don’t know how to teach our own sons and daughters not to give away their bodies so readily” (wsj.com).  That girls today complain to their mothers that it is no big deal or just the style is no different from what other generations of teens have said to their parents, reminds Moses.  Yet, saddled with guilt, struggling with denial, or longing to bond with their daughters, she thinks this contributes to the ever-lowering of modesty standards.  And, with salacious, saturated sexuality on display everywhere you look, the pressure to conform mixed with parental baggage continues to trigger an increasing trend to take the foot off the brake and put both feet on the accelerator.

Christian parents are striving to raise godly daughters in the midst of this generation.  Jesus called His day an adulterous and sinful generation (Mark 8:38), an unbelieving and perverse generation (Luke 9:41), and a wicked generation (Luke 11:29).  From what we read of His day, surely our own qualifies as the same.  Few with influence in society at large encourage our girls to cover up, minimize provocativeness, or hide their sexuality from public view.  For that, Christians must heed the urging and instruction of Scripture.  Certainly, Paul (1 Tim. 2:9) and Peter (1 Pet. 3:3) remind Christian women that their focus is not to be merely on the external but to be modest and discreet.  The Lord does not want males or females accentuating their physical but rather their spiritual–the hidden person of the heart. Repeatedly, New Testament writers condemn “sensuality” (Mark 7:22; Rom. 13:13; 2 Cor. 12:21; Gal. 5:19; etc.).  Immodest clothing–be it brief, form-fitting, or the like–is unquestionably sensual.

Having a rational, reasonable explanation for the current immodest trends of society might appeal to our minds, but the Lord wants to reach our hearts.  We are here for the purpose of leading other people to heaven.  Everything about us ought to be a force that attracts people’s hearts to the Lord, not lures them away from Him!  Let us, men, women, boys and girls, be a source of light in a world of darkness (cf. Matt. 5:13-16)!