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Neal Pollard

Hooray for the good guys!  I am excited for Scott Phillips and Frank Rodriguez and the door of opportunity God seems to be opening to them.  For Bread readers who don’t know, Scott is one of our Bear Valley deacons.  Frank serves the Lord with the Castle Rock, CO, congregation.  Individually, they are great, productive servants of God with loving, supportive, and active families.  Together, they are:  “FRANKY AND MR. SCOTT.”  They have worked in our Bible Discovery Days the last few years and do the same with congregations in this area each year.  Mr. Scott is the straight man, carrying the story lines along.  Franky, a pint size puppet with big ideas and unanticipated takes on Mr. Scott’s Bible stories, is the funny, um, “kid.”

Since last year, they have been sharing their talents via You Tube and their website (www.frankyandmrscott.com).  Now, in 2010, Focus Press is replicating and distributing their first DVD: “Night, Night With Franky.”  It is being sold for $12 per copy, making it an absolute bargain.  Since Barnes and Noble now carry “Think” magazine, Scott and Frank will have the opportunity to impact and reach non-Christians and even unbelievers along with members of the Lord’s church.  You can order directly from focuspress.org.

What is your dream?  Scott and Frank are Christian men who have been successful out in the secular world, but they have wanted to use their talents to serve the Lord in some way.  Who knows the good they will ultimately do because they dared to dream, then pursue it!  Men, thank you for the example and for your great faith.  We pray that your success will multiply and that souls will be added to the church through these efforts.  Let us all focus on our dreams for helping to build a great church and reaching out to the lost.

Neal Pollard

They say it was chilling shades of Columbine 11 years ago, when a scruffy looking 32-year-old man with black, stringy hair opened fire at Deer Creek Middle School and wounded two junior high students.  While suspect Bo Eastwood was reloading, Dr. David Benke, a long-time math teacher who was on after school bus and playground patrol, tackled him.  It was an unfair match, though Benke is considerably older than Eastwood.  He also towered over him, a former basketball player and almost six and a half feet tall.  Benke remained calm, humble, and very matter of fact about the whole thing as he was interviewed by the media.  Some Chatfield High School students created a Facebook page entitled, “Dr. David Benke is a hero!!!!”  As of this writing, about 20,000 people have joined less than 24 hours after the shooting.  People want heroes and Benke is a good fit.  There’s the gentle, sure demeanor that quickly restored calm in a terrifying situation.  There’s the willingness and ability to sacrifice himself to save others.  As one of the page creators put it, “There was a shooting at deer creek middle school and Dr. David Benke, a math teacher there, tackled the shooter.  He has my respect all the way.”

Though it is awful that such a shooting occurred, it is hopeful and refreshing to see especially young people targeting a man like Benke as a hero.  With the Tiger Woods scandal still fresh on our minds, with sports stars, actors, models, politicians, and the like all too often disappointing and antiheroic, Benke is a great stand in for what qualifies for heroism–selflessness, loyalty, determination, and right actions.

It also reminds me of a song that was in the Songs of the Church songbook, written by Claude T. Lynn.

Why should I not love Jesus? Jesus who died for me!

Why should I not adore Him, Hero of Calvary.

Why should I not love Jesus? Lost and alone was I;

In His great love He saved me, lifted my soul on high.

Why should I not love Jesus? One day He’ll come for me;

Oh, I shall share His glory for all eternity.

While I am grateful for earthly heroes, how I am reminded that as a Christian I have a completely perfect, powerful, and pure hero in Jesus.  May I never neglect to look up to Him.

Neal Pollard

I have collected baseball cards since I was a boy.  I own a Mike Kekich and a Fritz Peterson baseball card; at least I will until I get home and thrown them in the garbage.  Over the weekend, I heard on ESPN news that Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are doing a movie to portray the story of the two pitchers’ decision to “swap lives” during the 1973 baseball season.  Apparently, they exchanged wives, children, houses and cars.  I am not old enough to remember anything that happened in 1973 and somehow I had managed to remain blissfully ignorant of this black eye in sports and societal history.  Now, Hollywood is going to make a movie about it.  I cannot help but be concerned that the story will be sympathetic and nonjudgmental in tone and message.  There is much renewed interest in the 37 year old scandal as Peterson released a book last year, “Mickey Mantle Is Going To Heaven,” which is, ironically, very religious in tone and discusses several things including the famous “trade.”

The 1960s ushered in some moral changes that still negatively impact our culture today.  Sexual degradation was definitely a hallmark trait of the times and the bar continues to be lowered.  While Peterson and Kekich’s wife have remained married for 35 years (the other pair did not remain together long), it is a poignant reminder that time and reformation of life without true repentance does not equal forgiveness.  It also is a reflection on what kind of things are the object of fascination with worldly institutions like the media.  Perhaps there was a time in the national consciousness where the nation’s conscience would not have been so seared as it is today.  There was moral outrage among the average person when this news originally broke, but so much polluted water has gone under the bridge since then that it may be hard for a significant percentage of people to blush about the wickedness of such an act.

God has unchanging standards and principles about matters that govern such things as marriage, sexual purity, and chaste behavior.  Matthew 19:9 still reads, essentially, “One husband, one wife, for life, except for fornication.” Romans 7:1-4 would had the additional exception of the death of one’s mate freeing the survivor to remarry so long as the one to remarry is marriageable in His eyes.  The Bible still says, “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (Heb. 13:4).  Galatians 5:19-21 still says that those who practice fornication and adultery will not inherit the kingdom of heaven.  The wrath of God will still come upon those guilty of the disobedience of fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (Col. 3:5).  Sexual immorality is still “deserving of death” at the judgment (Rom. 1:29,32).  Up to the present, we are still to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts” (13:14).

May we never idealize, glamorize, or immortalize sin.  May we disdain it and not rationalize it.  May we take pity on, embrace, and love sinners while maintaining a spiritually healthy distaste for sin in any form.

(Facts from New York Times online article, 9/18/09)

Neal Pollard

That was Phillip Woolley’s Facebook status last night at 9:39 PM.  I knew what he meant because I was watching the Olympics.  The incredible thing is that Phillip posted it after White had completed his first halfpipe performance in which judges awarded him a score of 46.8 out of 50.  By the time the other 11 boarders had finished their second run, White’s gold medal was secure.  He had no reason to do a second run.  He had no reason except something called a “Double McTwist 1260,” a White creation.  He was seen conferring with coaches about whether or not he should go back out there, and in the end he did.  Risking nothing but his health, White hit the halfpipe.  The last move at the end of the run was an attempt at that signature, never-before-executed (in formal competition) move.  When he came down intact and slid out of the culvert, he was the undisputed king of his sport.  Judges agreed, giving him a nearly perfect score of 48.4.

What motivates you?  Certainly, some are moved by fame and glory.  Others simply have a tangible, challenging goal and they drive themselves relentlessly toward its realization.  But it is uncommon for someone who has nothing to prove to pursue the goal of getting closer to perfection.

The church is blessed with some high-achieving people, five talent men and women who have done much in evangelism, edification, giving, missions, and service to help the church grow in strength and number.  In the last 50 to 100 years, brethren have achieved great heights in preaching, Christian education, soul-winning, media outreach, and much more.  It is thrilling to be part of a divine organization on earth ever reaching toward new heights.  What will motivate us to do more and greater things?  Let it be a desire to move toward perfection and maturity (Heb. 6:1).  Let it be a drive for growth in every good way (2 Pet. 3:18; Eph. 4:15; Col. 2:19; etc.).  Let it be a dissatisfaction with anything less than our best (Col. 3:23).  We are not after fame and glory on this earth.  We are after the crown of life (Jas. 1:12; Rev. 2:10).  Christian living.  Nuff said!

Neal Pollard

God wants positive preaching, doesn’t He? Truly, preachers are to affirm the truth of the gospel.  They must “explicitly express” what God says.  Their preaching must not be doubtful or speculative.  It must be certain and real!  Clear affirmations and certain, confident stands concerning the Bible prove one “positive.”  Is God pleased with anything else? Please allow me to suggest three things positive preaching is not.

It Is Not Preaching That Dodges The Issues! When the pulpit is silent on moral and doctrinal issues, negative preaching is the result.  Some church members have grown up and grown old without hearing moral lessons about Christian distinctiveness regarding clothing, sexuality, speech, acceptable relationships, and the like.  Whether the issue is homosexuality, immodesty, euthanasia, fellowshiping denominations, salvation by grace only, instrumental music, or any other sin problem or error, God’s preacher will  address and take a biblical stand on such matters.  A man may please his fellowman in preaching morally and doctrinally neutral sermons, but he cannot gain the Lord’s approval.  Obviously, this must be done with patience (2 Tim. 2:24-26) and love (Eph. 4:15).  But, let no preacher ever shy away from it.  Positive preachers face, define, and answer the critical issues of the day!

It Is Not Preaching That Never Calls Names. In a congregation filled with those who have escaped the world’s pollution (2 Pet. 2:20-22), the doctrines of men (Matt. 15:6-9), and religious bodies for which Jesus did not die (Eph. 4:4), there are sermons and points of sermons which are bolstered and made clearer (i.e., positive) when one comes out of the realm of the abstract by giving concrete examples.  There are situations where a denomination needs to be called by name, a specific, denominational practice needs denounced, and a denominational personality must be identified as a false teacher (2 Pet. 2:1). The same applies to error in the church, especially when it is a problem causing damage in a local area.  There are times when names, ideas, and actions must be explicitly (i.e., positively) addressed.  Every time? No! To the exclusion of comforting lessons?  No!  With a sour, acrimonious attitude? No! But a preacher afraid ever to call a name in any sermon may be too afraid (cf. Rev. 21:8)!  Common sense will help the preacher know when the need exists to pinpoint a name, a congregation, or specific sect, and thus his tone, attitude, and demeanor will reflect sadness, genuine horror, and sobriety rather than crudeness, delight, and abrasive bitterness!

It Is Not Preaching Only What An Audience Wants To Hear. God’s messengers have been warned (2 Tim. 4:3-4). Some are not satisfied unless the preacher turns them away “feeling good about themselves.” There may be congregations who will cull out any preacher except one who gives them only soothing words. Prophets and priests once assured a people of peace even as God’s righteous anger was kindled against their sinful ways (cf. Jer. 8). Those who hear preachers declare the whole purpose of God (Acts 20:27) may not know that there are some lessons which are harder for the preacher to preach than others. If every preacher were polled about whether he preferred preaching on heaven or hell, most would express preference for the former.  It is difficult to stand before a group and reveal an unpopular truth. It’s emotionally draining to preach on a sensitive subject that affects a number in the congregation. It takes greater love and concern to warn a man lying on the tracks of an oncoming train than to smile and wave at him as the tragic moment looms!

One never has to be hateful or belligerent in standing for truth. But one too afraid to engage the devil and his army in spiritual warfare is a distracted, unreliable, and traitorous soldier (cf. Eph. 6:10ff). Paul gave advice to Christians that is quite applicable to preachers: “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Gal. 6:9).

Neal Pollard

I hear his voice several times en route to Terminal C at Denver International Airport, telling me, “Hold on please.”  He will be the PA announcer for hockey in the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.  He has been the PA announcer at the past few Super Bowls.  He has done PA announcing for the Colorado Rockies, Denver Broncos, Denver Nuggets, and Colorado Avalanche. You can hear him most mornings on 850 KOA if you live in Colorado (the station can be heard in 28 states).  He is the identification voice for many radio stations around the country and has done quite a bit of commercial voiceover work.  It is likely that if Alan Roach came up to you and starting talking, you would be sure that you had heard his voice somewhere.  He has a pleasant, familiar, but distinct, voice.  It is a gift that has given him a career and a comfortable livelihood.

All four gospels introduce the work of John the immerser, noting him as the fulfillment of prophesy, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight” (Mat. 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4; John 1:23).  Was his tonal quality, voice inflection, cadence, and general speech as distinct and enthralling as a professional audio personality?  No, instead it was his message that was so clear and distinct.  He was telling people the Messiah was about to appear and His kingdom was about to be established.  He preached the absolute necessity of repentance.  He introduced the important place of baptism as part of God’s plan.  Luke indicates that he preached the gospel to the people with many exhortations (3:18).  People could pick out John’s message from the other speakers of his day because of what he had to say.

The world has never had greater need to hear a clear, distinct voice from you and me in a sea of doubt and error.  You may not be a golden-tongued orator.  Most of us are not.  Yet, what we have to say about Christ, His church, His will, and His plan is clear and distinct.  It will “sound” unique among a cacophony of religious voices because it will come only from scripture and call people to follow only what is found there.  Let your voice be heard!

Neal Pollard

When the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai opened on January 4th, I admit to having thought how cool it would be to go to the top of it.  The observation deck sits 124 stories and 2717 feet above the ground.  The Burj Khalifa is now the tallest building in the world.  Apparently, a good number of tourists share my fascination.  However, a little over a month after opening to the public, 15 people got an experience of a lifetime.  They were stranded in the elevator for 45 minutes due to what has been speculated to be electrical problems.  Those stuck in the lift spoke of hearing a small explosion.  Tower staff dropped a ladder into the shaft and helped them climb back onto the observation deck (information gleaned from http://www.thetimesonline.uk/) .

Acrophobia, the fear of heights, can cause your heart to race, your breathing to get heavy, profuse sweating, and claustrophobic feelings.  You can feel trapped.  But, even if you don’t suffer from acrophobia, you would have been a bit nervous dangling nearly 3000 feet above the ground in a wounded elevator.

Do you ever feel that loss of control and helplessness in circumstances of your own life?  You might not trade places with those stranded Dubai tourists, but maybe you can relate to how they must have felt.  Maybe you feel hung out to dry, stranded, and alone.  You may wonder where God is in the midst of your hurt.  You desire rescue, but you are unsure whether help will arrive.  If you hung onto your faith through those trials, you know the relief that follows your elevated troubles.  What can you do when your troubles are elevated?

• • • • • • Pray! Talk to God about your fears and worries.
          • Trust in God’s providence.
          • Make a plan of action.
          • Seek aid from resources that can help you relieve the issue (whether books, professionals, friends, etc.).
          • Find someone to serve.
          • Research passages of scripture that relate to our troubles.
          • Quit behaviors or habits that contribute to the troubles.
          • Find the peace that comes in depending on God’s help and fight worry.

Those suggestions are not a panacea or cure-all.  They can, however, work like that ladder thrown to those stranded riders.  Once back on the deck where all is much clearer, relief can return.  Sometimes it simply requires taking some needed steps.  I hope you are never stuck in a situation like those poor souls in Dubai, but you will meet trouble.  Make us of all that God gives to help in times of trouble and enjoy the rescue He provides.

Neal Pollard

“Spiritual agnosticism” is a fitting term to describe a worldview of a growing number of perspicacious pupils.  I started wondering about the term as I read the philosophical rants of academic gudgeons and gowks who eagerly regurgitate what the religious anti-establishment is most recently positing. At first glance, it appears the most cozy of positions.  From this seemingly impervious trench, these self-assured scholars-in-waiting snipe at everything that resembles the traditional, absolutist, or propositional.  Many of these trenches in which they cower look much like ivory towers in which said snipers lay gorged from their intellectual comfort foods laced with the poison of unequivocal uncertainty and absolute ambiguity.  Up there, without the inconvenience of much, if any, life’s experience, they wistfully wallow in pits of doubt and skepticism.

Translation: We have some young men and women pursuing higher education who are being fed so much doubt and ridicule that they no longer know if they believe anything except that nothing at all is absolutely true or knowable.  They are told, then tell others, that the Bible could not have been accurately delivered and preserved from the mind and will of God through God-inspired men.

I confess to being almost completely ignorant about the latest positions held by the erudite philosophers of the world, with their complex and obtuse ideas about God, scripture, doctrine, and theology.  They seem able to come up with a new angle or reason for why what we see in the Bible should not be taken at face value.  They revel in planting seeds of doubt, cynicism, ridicule, and condescension in their tangled gardens.  While most dismiss these philosophical farmers as riding roughly on trackless tractors, there are, tragically, those as gullible as themselves ready to “believe a lie.”  They seek an advantage by trying to remain on the offensive, leaving poor, undereducated or uninitiated elders, preachers, and members, as they scornfully see them, scrambling to defend their faith in the face of their gnostic jargon and concepts.

Perhaps by staying on the offensive, they distract themselves from a flurry of questions that might do more damage to their crops than the seventh plague did to Egypt’s. Do they believe God incapable of revealing Himself through the medium of the written word in a way that would stand the test of time and be void of confusion?  If He does not desire to communicate guidance to His creation, what explanation is offered for this? Is there a heaven? How do we know?  Why be faithful to one’s spouse; i.e., is there a moral imperative for this? Will there be a judgment?  If not, what motivation is there for man not to yield to his baser nature?  Does one need to worship or assemble together?  How? Why?  How does one determine what moral or religious actions to take?  What content is there to ever make a moral judgment?  Is there right and wrong? What does one say to a person who has suffered the loss of a loved one?  What would one say to a grieving family at a funeral?  What would one say to a happy, hopeful couple at a wedding?  What moral guidance would one use in rearing one’s precious children? Would there be absolutes for them? Why be honest or self-controlled?

If only we could live out life up in that ivory tower, free from that mundane, ordinary place called “real life.” If only everyone could spend their entire lives loading their rational rifles, taking shots at what they disdainfully deem “orthodox” and tradition.  Somewhere, some time, their spiritually agnostic theories will be thrown into the refiner’s oven.  Its white heat will burn out all the dross and it just might be that all that will be left is ashes.  And misguided lives.

Neal Pollard

Christ was busy while on earth, even to the point of depriving Himself (Mat. 8:20). He lost friends and followers (John 6:66-67; Mat. 26:31). He was constantly hounded and threatened (Mat. 22:15; John 5:18).  He was rejected by family and neighbors (Mark 6:4-5).  Jesus knew something about stress.

Luke four records the stressors that came with the beginning of His public ministry. News about Him spread all over the place (14). He taught with authority and was praised by all (15). People spoke well of this powerful preacher (22). His teaching brought angry opposition and an assassination attempt (28-30)!  Then He came to Capernaum, teaching (31), exorcising (35), and healing (39).

Luke four summarizes what life must have been like for Jesus. He was tending to many people’s needs (40), facing people making demands on His time (42), and enduring people trying to interfere with His schedule (42). To a degree, we can relate with the same issues today–people need us, drain our time, and interfere with our schedule.  All of this creates stress.  So, how did Jesus cope with this?

HE TOOK TIME TO HELP EVERYONE (40). That may not sound stress relieving, but it was.  He came to serve (Mat. 20:28). Rather than fret, wring His hands, or succumb to feelings of being overwhelmed, Jesus put His nose to the grindstone. He expended His energy to help “each one of them.”

Sometimes, we compound our pressures not by doing something about them but by wasting time worrying over them.  Such an exercise can quickly turn into self-pity. Give yourself wholeheartedly to your tasks and you will find it fulfilling and even therapeutic.

HE TOOK TIME FOR SOLITUDE AND PRAYER (42; Mark 1:35). Jesus knew the value of taking a break. He got away from the crowds, the work, the requests, and the problems. In His humanity Jesus had to have been emotionally drained and physically exhausted. To keep up the most productive life ever lived, Jesus needed retreat. Notice how He spent that “down time,” in solitude and supplication!

Idleness is not a viable stress reducer. On the other hand, solitary meditation and devotion are key to winning over stress.  Communicating with God can calm the most raging sea in the vast ocean of the mind. It reinforces one for the new stress that inevitably comes.

HE WOULD NOT BE DISTRACTED OR DETERRED FROM HIS PURPOSE (43). When He reconnected with public life, the demands continued. But, Jesus never lost sight of the bigger picture. His life was not solely about helping the needy folks in that one place. It encompassed infinitely more. He helped these folks, but He needed to go further.

Most of us face circular and cyclical tasks, responsibilities and routines that are repeated on a regular basis. Even in that repetitious work, we can be distracted from the big picture by bogging down in the details. We can consume all our energy putting out little fires while our purpose and opportunities go up in smoke.  We must stay focused on why we are here (Ecc. 12:13), letting that impact every area of our lives.

HE RESUMED HIS TASKS (44). Jesus kept on preaching in the country of the Jews (44).  He kept on doing what He was here to do.

It can seem impossible to get everything done, but determination and organization can help us do great, multiplied good. Jesus “kept on” doing what He was here to do. That will help you, when life casts long shadows over you. Just keep going! At the end of the day, you will feel satisfaction for a job well done!

Neal Pollard

I want to warn you that “the preacher” who “responded to the invitation” was me.  I cannot remember the exact date, but it was in the early 2000s.  I made the decision that I needed to respond during the middle of my sermon (talk about dealing with distraction when you preach).  I was addressing a very personal, soul-affecting subject, and I knew that a public response was in order.

I coped with the normal concerns one faces when he or she anticipates making a public response.  “What will people think?” “Will they talk about me?”  “Will they make judgments or wonder what else lies beneath the surface?”  “Will I be chastised or piled on by some ‘older brother’ (cf. Luke 15) who meets me up front?”  “What will my children think?”  “What will my wife think?”

The closer it got to the invitation, the faster my heart raced.  Of course, being in control of delivering it, I may have been tempted to prolong it.  I can’t recall now.  But, finally I swallowed hard and said something like, “If you need to respond, why not do so now as we stand and sing.”  With that, I stepped out from behind the pulpit and down onto the front row.  I am sure I heard some people stop singing, maybe even a whisper or two.  I was embarrassed and in tears.  But, in a moment’s time, I also remember hearing the sniffles of some shedding tears.  Quickly, an elder’s arm was around me, consoling me, and assisting me.  He shared my confession with the church, prayed a loving, emotional prayer.  After the last amen, I was swarmed by spiritual family offering encouragement and support.

Did I get special treatment because I was the preacher? Maybe, in a few instances.  But, that cuts two ways.  At times, preachers are held in too high a regard and at times to a much higher standard.  What I anticipated and what I received were two different things.

Every congregation has those “older brother” members who risk losing their own souls for their suspicious, judgmental, hypercritical behavior.  But, the overwhelming majority are like those who faced and embraced me the day I responded to the invitation.

How would you have responded if you were there the day I went forward?  Would you have wondered why I responded when I first sat on that pew?  Would you have loved me and encouraged me?

You may wonder why I answered my own call to respond that day.  You may think you have a pretty good idea.  That says as much about you as it does about me.  My sermon was, “The Need To Be More Evangelistic.”  At the time, I felt I was falling short in that area and I wanted both forgiveness and prayers that I might do better.  But, if it had been a personal, moral, or doctrinal shortcoming, I would have needed the same kind of response that I got the day I made my response.

Every other person assembled every time an invitation is offered needs and deserves the same assurance.  No matter what drives my need to respond, I need love, acceptance, and assurance of help and forgiveness.  You know what I learned that day I responded?  There’s almost an entire church out there eager to give it!

Neal Pollard

Several years ago, a listener to our TV program called me at the church building.  He said, “Man, I just watched your program on television. I can’t believe it, man.  You must be from the dark ages somewhere.”  That’s all he said.  He hung up the phone.

A mark of proclaiming the truth of the gospel, even if its presentation is seasoned with kindness, is that it will inevitably draw those kind of remarks.  Because true Christians stand upon the unchanging and unchangeable gospel, they will often have such ridicule hurled at them.  But, what about the charge this man made? Is it true? Are we from the “dark ages”?
Of course, he apparently didn’t know what or when the “dark ages” were.  That arose many centuries after Christ established His church on Pentecost. When the Catholic Church took the Word of God out of the hands of the masses and empowered only a select group of those within their group to control it, counterproductivity permeated every facet of life.  The “dark ages” would continue until the Bible could be restored to the common reader.

I know the point he was trying to make, though.  He disagreed with the biblical conclusion we drew in that particular program.  It ran contrary to his thoughts and rationale. He, therefore, rejected its relevance.

He’s right, though. Christians are from the dark ages!  Did you know that the Bible even teaches that?

Christians are turned from darkness to light (Acts 26:18).  Christians have come from the dark world of sin.  They are delivered (1 Pet. 2:9) to be God’s chosen peole by the marvelous light of Christ.  Paul said, “You were sometimes darkness, but now you are light in the Lord: walk as children of light” (Eph. 5:8).  Children of God are commissioned to wrestle against the darkness of this world (Eph. 6:12), since we are no longer characterized by it.

Christians cast off the works of darkness (Rom. 13:12).  Christian service is not properly described as “works of darkness.”  In fact, Paul warned Christians, “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Eph. 5:11).  Faithful Christians do not love and cherish dark works of sin (Jas. 4:4).

Christians are free from the power of darkness (Col. 1:13).  The dark sentence of spiritual death was revoked by the grace of God at Calvary for everyone who obeys Him (Col. 1:14). The day of Judgment will “overtake” those under the power of sin’s darkness (1 The. 5:4), but not Christians!  Sin no longer has dominion over the truly converted (Rom. 6:14).

Paul wrote that, “You are all the children of light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night nor of darkness” (1 The. 5:5). The man on the telephone that day was precisely correct.  Oh, that more people would be free from the dark ages!

Neal Pollard

For what must elders give an account?  The Bible speaks of the duties, dangers, and delight of overseeing the local church.  What are elders to do?

1) Take heed to themselves and the church (Acts 20:28)

2) Feed the church the right spiritual diet (Acts 20:28; 1

Peter 5:2)

3) Watch and remember (Acts 20:31)

4) Rule well (1 Timothy 5:17)

5) Labor in word and doctrine (1 Timothy 5:17)

6) Hold fast the faithful word (Titus 1:9)

7) Exhort and convince the gainsayers (Titus 1:9)

8) Take the oversight of the flock (1 Peter 5:2)

9) Be examples to the flock (1 Peter 5:3)

How could one take this responsibility lightly or view the work of elders as frivolous?  Overseeing the local church is definitely serious business!  Remember the inspired words in the great epistle of Hebrews?  “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you” (13:17).  Let us assist them in their God-given work and never oppose their right-doing!

Neal Pollard

I am an admitted “Gator Hater.”  Growing up a huge fan of the Georgia Bulldogs, it is expected of you not to like the University of Florida.  It is nothing personal; it is wholesale, institutional prejudice.  While I am not likely to ever root for their football team to have a winning season, their soon to be alumni, superstar quarterback is now one of my heroes.  I have tried to ignore his wholesome image and even his deep, religious conviction. Wag your head in shame at me if you will, but he killed my Bulldogs every year!

But his latest effort has me in permanent awe of him.  It did not happen on any gridiron.  It happened in a production studio, the work of private donors who paid the exorbitant cost for Focus On The Family to run a 30-second-ad during the Super Bowl.  Feminist groups (one of them called it “extraordinarily demeaning and offensive”) and abortion advocacy groups, all of whom I thought were supposed to be pro “choice,” have excoriated Focus, CBS, and the Tebows, for running a “divisive” advertisement (I suppose “pro-choice” must mean “for” the “choice” of “abortion only”?).  They are circulating online petitions to get the ad removed from the ranks of Super Bowl commercials (which includes some illustrious, wholesome spots–remember last year?!).  Tebow held a news conference to address why he would appear in the ad, and he simply said he was standing up for what he and his mom so strongly believed to be right.  Tim’s mom, Penny, supposedly shares her decision not to have an abortion despite her doctor’s recommendation that she do so.  Several advocacy groups automatically conclude that this makes it a political commercial. Perhaps they fear a likable sports superstar telling the public that it is a good thing to choose life will be harmful to the cause they seemingly cherish dearly.

Tebow has been criticized roundly and repeatedly for dragging his faith out onto the field.  It may cost him endorsements.  In the current culture, it might even hurt his NFL draft position (although I would not hold my breath for that; have you seen him play?!).  There is much hypocrisy here.  Feminists groups ignoring the repeated, worsening sexual objectification of women in nearly any type of commercial.  Abortion groups decrying someone promoting the “other” choice.  Critics who do not mind hedonism, materialism, agnosticism, and the like paraded, but convulse at any sign of theism.

Yet, here is what stands out most to me.  Tebow is willing to risk criticism, personal loss, and stigmatism to stand up for principles firmly rooted in biblical teaching.

What am I willing to risk for my Lord and His will?  Thanks for the challenge, Tim.  I wish you well.

Neal Pollard

The heaviest rodent in the world, the capybara calls South America home, is an excellent diver and swimmer, can be as “tall” as 4 1/2 feet and weigh as much as 150 pounds (imagine meeting that rodent in a dark alley!).  Yet, perhaps the most incredible thing about its habitat and lifestyle is that it can share a riverbank or shoreline with black caimans, crocodile-like amphibians that grow up to 20 feet long and are capable of killing humans.  When the capybara is in the water, it is easier prey for the caimans.  Yet, on dry land, the capybara is almost always safe from the razor-sharp, powerful teeth of the caiman (some information found in Animal: The Definitive Guide To The World’s Wildlife, 158, 426).

Who would think a rodent would be safe standing in the middle of a group of crocodilians?

How this reminds me of the comfort we can find as Christians surrounded by evil and sin!  The ranks of the righteous are dwarfed by the multitudes of the morally depraved (cf. Mat. 7:13-14).  The world would appear to have much more money, power and influence than the church, yet through His help we are not only able to stay safe but even are able to convert some who formerly served and were part of the world.  Without God, we should be frightened as easy prey for the wicked.  But, as Paul says, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31).

Now, when we choose to go where the enemy has the advantage, we become easy prey for the devil.  We can become weighted down (Heb. 12:1) and it is then that we become a “sitting duck” (or “swimming capybara”) for the enemy!  Practicing worldliness in our speech and behavior puts us at odds with God, creating distance between ourselves and the safety found in the shelter of His hand (cf. Jas. 4:4; John 10:28-29).  The challenge is to navigate safely through this world without letting its wisdom and ways fill our hearts and minds!

Neal Pollard

As a subscriber to Consumer Reports, I get occasional emails from the company.  This morning’s note from Jim Guest, president of the company, caught my eye.  The subject line read, “Clean hands.”  Guest asserts that “nearly 100,000 Americans die each year from injections they get while in their local hospital for something else–the equivalent of a jumbo jet full of passengers crashing every other day.”  His email is a call for consumers like me to call upon the government to make infection rates public while pressuring hospitals to be more vigilant in their procedures.

This is neither a call for bigger government nor a charge that hospitals are all unsanitary.  Certainly, as in any industry, the medical field is not harmed by reasonable regulations and some facilities undoubtedly need to be more fastidious.  But, it was the title that grabbed me.

Spiritually, we are called to have “clean hands.”  When we do not, we can have a potentially, eternally negative impact on the lives of others.  Consider this more carefully.

MORALLY, WE NEED CLEAN HANDS.  James 4:8 urges the readers to cleanse their hands.  Context warns against being intimate with worldliness (4), guilty of pride (6), submissive to Satan (7), judgmental of brethren (11-12), and overconfident of earthly plans and priorities (13ff).  When our deeds reveal to others that we have “dirty hands,” we hurt our influence with the lost and the saved!

EVANGELISTICALLY, WE NEED CLEAN HANDS. Paul could tell the elders of Ephesus that he was “free from the blood of all men” (Acts 20:26).  This seems to be an allusion to the prophet Ezekiel’s warning that if God’s spokesman did not warn the wicked, that one’s blood would figuratively be on the messenger’s hands (3:18,20).  Paul said he had not shrunk back from declaring the whole purpose of God (Acts 20:27).  When God hands us opportunities to teach the lost and we shun or ignore them, we need our hands cleaned!

DOCTRINALLY, WE NEED CLEAN HANDS. This same context in Acts 20 seems to apply to the content of Paul’s teaching.  He did not avoid the unpleasant and unpopular subjects.  He certainly taught in love (cf. Eph. 4:15), but he could face the Lord knowing he had declared the “whole purpose of God.”  We cannot mislead others living in darkness into thinking they are in the light.  That impacts the cleanliness of our “hands.”

The work of our hands will be examined.  Pilate tried to clean with a basin hands that could have been busy doing the right, courageous thing (cf. Mat. 27:24).  We may try to rationalize or reason what can only be cleansed by doing what is right, but only through obedient faith do we clean our hands!

Neal Pollard

About twenty-four hours after being part of a car crash in northwest Colorado, Stone Martin, at age nine, made the transition from time to eternity.  Now, he rests in comfort in Abraham’s bosom (Luke 16:22) with the penitent thief (Luke 23:43) and all the saints of the ages (cf. 2 Pet. 2:9) who await, free of heartaches, trials, and earthly cares, that timeless moment for which all the redeemed live and long.

The Martin family typify so well what faithful Christians everywhere do when faced with a tragedy like this (Tom Holland wrote, many years ago, that few things in life are more tragic than the loss of a child because it is out of the natural order and untimely).  As shock yields to resignation, grief and understandable, though not permanent, despair, this faithful couple and the rest of the family will continue to stand.  Why? How?

Proverbs 10:25 says, “When the whirlwind passes by, the wicked is no more, but the righteous has an everlasting foundation.”  Jesus says the righteous dig deep and lay their foundation on the rock (Luke 6:48).  Terrible, tumultuous storms like this can occur, and it shakes violently at one’s foundations.  Trivializing or minimizing the hurt and pain felt at such a moment as this is immoral and unthinking!  Yet, this dear family will spiritually survive and their optimistic hope will influence for good because of a promise made by One who referred to Himself as The Rock.  The fact that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matt. 16:18) and arose from His grave (Acts 2:29-33) means that dear people like the Martins can take heart from Paul’s words and not “sorrow as others who have no hope” (1 Thes. 4:13).  Yes, they will sorrow in a protracted and penetrating way.  Their lives will not be as they once were.  But, they now live with extra incentive for the realization of that moment when they will enjoy that unending, blissful reunion with saved loved ones and to see, once more, Stone, who will have been at rest upon The Rock of ages!

Neal Pollard

Micah is a book that is filled with some hard, divine judgment due to some pretty wicked behavior on the part of both Israel and Judah (1:1).  God, through Micah, calls them His enemy (2:8).   They devise evil on their beds at night and carried it out in the morning light (2:1). They hated good and loved evil (3:2). Their spiritual leaders led them away from Him (3:5ff).  They were anxious to do evil with “both hands” (7:3) and were willing to betray even their own brother (7:2).  These were grim moral times among the people of God, yet Micah’s message is filled with future hope and even promises concerning the Messiah (5:2) and a passage Jesus quotes in His ministry (7:6).

Micah ends the prophesy with some of the most hopeful language of the entire Old Testament, when he says,

“Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy.  He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities.  You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.  You will give truth to Jacob and mercy to Abraham which You have sworn to our fathers from days of old” (7:18-20).  Micah asks, then answers, one of the most important questions of all time and eternity.  Who is a God like the God of the Bible?

Examine the world religions and their gods are fallible, human, and unsafe to follow.  They do not possess nor dispense truth.  The idol gods are made by hands.  The gods of self are made by minds.  But the God of the Bible was not made.  He made all.

God is unique, according to Micah, because of many basic, important qualities:

• Ability and willingness to forgive (18)
• A mercy which mitigates His holy anger (18).
• A compassion that subdues iniquities (19).
• The giver of truth (20).
• The One who keeps His promises (20).

Consider how valuable each of these five basic traits is to how we view our past, present, and future.  God possesses everything we need and gives to those of us who ask and submit to Him.  Why would we look elsewhere for God than where He clearly makes Himself known to us?  As the youth song suggests, “There’s no God like Jehovah!”

Neal Pollard

How often have you been told to take a look at yourself by everyone from your Momma to Eric Clapton?  So often, we are good at seeing others but we are not so keen in our self-examination.  The apostle Paul urges the Corinthians to look at themselves and see where they are, spiritually.  That is helpful advice for us today.  Notice what Paul advises in 2 Corinthians 13:5:  “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?” What does he urge?

“Pressure Yourself.”  The broad meaning of the word here is “put to the test.”  It can be a negative exercise, where one tries to put God to the test from hostile motives.  It is the word translated “tempted” in Galatians 6:1.  But, it can also be used in a positive way, as in 2 Corinthians 13:5.  Paul is saying, “Put yourself to the test.”  Louw and Nida put, “Determine the nature of something by submitting it to the test” (Gk.-Eng. Lex., 27.46).  What thing is Paul telling them to put to the test to find out its nature?  Their lives as measured by God’s Word.  The concept of pressure-testing it is to look deeply and closely and find out, truly, if they each were continuing in the faith.  That is an exercise which will require a lifetime of persistent effort, and it certainly leaves little time for pulling out the magnifying glass and the microscope on our brethren.

“Prove Yourself.”  The meaning of “prove” is similar to the word translated “test” or “pressure.”  Trench says it means “to approve after examination” (Synonyms, 278).  The need was to keep themselves on the hook until they had been thoroughly, honestly examined by self.  There is always plenty to see and evaluate in ourselves, enough to keep us busy every day.

“Perceive Yourself.”  What was it Paul wanted them to see in themselves?  It was whether or not Christ was in them.  If He was not, they had failed the test.  When we look into the Bible and put yourself to the test, do you see from that examination that Christ is in you?  We might be able to fool others, but we cannot fool ourselves.  He cannot get in our hearts by wishing, feeling, hoping, or intending.  Paul emphasizes “the faith” as crucial to this process.

Look closely at self.  What do you see inside yourself?  So pursue and live so that Christ is in you.  When He is, He will shine forth through you!

Neal Pollard

It is the worst earthquake since 1770, several years before the end of the Revolutionary War.  The epicenter was 10 miles west of the capital city, approximately the same population as Houston, Texas, or Chicago, Illinois.  There have been dozens of aftershocks ranging from 4.2 to 5.9, the earthquake itself registering an incredible 7.0.  There are no construction standards in the third-world country, and the city’s mayor had declared about 60 percent of the city’s buildings unsafe following the collapse of a suburban school building little more than a year ago.
Haiti, already accustomed to hardship and poverty, is in unimaginable shambles.  Thousands of lives have already been confirmed as lost and it is disconcerting to contemplate what the final tally will be.  This disaster was no respecter of persons, killing foreigners, the wealthy, and the powerful along with the poor, obscure natives.  Hospitals, upscale apartments, government buildings, and palaces, along with shanties, collapsed in on themselves. There have been those who were buried alive that have been recovered, but many more are simply buried under the rubble.

I have only seen a few images of the earthquake, but they are certainly sad and graphic.  The faces photographed portray so many raw emotions.  It is difficult to imagine what these poor people are enduring.  There is no greater physical loss than loss of physical life.

Do you ever wonder how different our reaction toward soul-winning would be if we could see sin as God sees it.  The Omniscient One sees every sinner all around the world, many of whom are buried under the rubble of destructive lifestyles.  He watches with perfect perception all the graphic details.  He sees those buried under their pornography addictions, the unfaithfulness of their adulteries, those with their cursing, tobacco, alcohol, and gambling habits, those buried under the practices of false religions and false teachings, and on and on.  While all of us sin, those of us saved by the blood of Christ must be part of the great rescue operation of those in danger of dying under the rubble of unforgiven sin.  May we awake to the fact that the loss of the soul is infinitely greater than even the tragedy of the magnitude of these events to our south that bring tears to our eyes!

Neal Pollard

The lead article in the fall 2009 edition of Reflections, a quarterly produced by the Yale Divinity School, is written by guest editor Martin B. Copenhaver.  It is entitled “Back To The Future: ‘Retraditioning’ in the Church Today.”  In it, Copenhaver writes of the huge upheaval going on within many “Reformed” or Protestant denominations.  Copenhaver contrasts mainline churches with both Emergent Churches, the darling and hip face of ultimate change in religion today, and Judaism–which is the ultimate anti-Emergent Church in philosophy and practice.  To summarize, Copenhaver says that churches are finding new life and vitality by doing more than just going back to their traditional roots.  They are going back to ancient faith practices, particularly those discovered in scripture.  He seems to indicate that as our culture has replaced Christ with secularism or hedonism as the foundation of society, churches have found new motivation not to simply assume that people believe in Christ or desire to be distinctive.

“Retraditioning,” a term Copenhaver borrows from Diana Butler Bass, is a movement “through which a congregation adopts, or reclaims, practices and understandings that have been part of the wider Christian tradition, but, for some reason, have been abandoned or diminished in importance” (4).  She has much more to say that would be fodder for a different article, but the Reflections article is all about the identity crisis so many in Christendom are facing in these changing times.  To be fair, many congregations within churches of Christ have been wrestling with an identity crisis, too.

But, while we should always be people ever open to more effective methods of fulfilling our God-given mission as His people in ways that are in harmony with scripture, we should never be a people wrestling with an identity crisis borne of having been faddish and preeminently desirous of being seen by the culture as relevant.  We do not have to revisit how often to take the Lord’s Supper, what basic form the sermon will take or the role of the Bible in it, whether or not women will lead in worship, what form church music will take, and the like.  Since all of this was settled in the New Testament 2000 years ago, our role as disciples of Christ is simply to read it, understand it, and do it.  This is true, whether culture accepts and appreciates us for it or not.  As a side benefit, we do not have to go back to the “drawing board” time and again, rewrite creed books or publish a new edition of a Church Manual.  We do not have to grab on to the next, new, and biggest religious trend.  Our never-ending work continues to be to restore New Testament Christianity in faith and practice, calling people to submit to Christ’s authority and shape their lives, individually and congregationally, by His Word!